Konoha no Taka: Ririku
by Silver Shadowbreeze
Summary: Post TUE. What if Clockwork didn't stop the accident? Danny will get a chance at another life. After a year of training, he will live in another dimension as a ninja. His will of fire will burn brightly. Naruto/DP. Discontinued. ADOPTION DETAILS INSIDE.
1. Another Chance

Hello, readers. After a long absence, I have returned! Here is my latest work, a DP/Naruto crossover, Konoha no Taka: Ririku; _The Hawk of the Leaf: Takeoff_. It's the first part of a possible trilogy that I will make as much time for as I can. I thank all of my readers that have waited for me to write again. This chapter's for you, truephan. Arigatō for reviewing my previous work. From now on, translations will be at the end of each chapter.

Flame only when necessary. Review all the time!

-

The hawk feels the wind

Sheering through down and feathers.

It calls; he takes off.

– Takeoff: a Haiku by Shadow

-

Another Chance

Subtitled: The End and the Beginning: The Journey of a Hero Begins!

What if?

What if it really _had_ happened?

What if it hadn't been stopped, as it had been in another future?

What if Time had something else in mind?

What if…

…He'd been given another chance?

Would he accept it, or reject it?

How would his choice affect the future?

Would it destroy both timelines, or protect them?

These questions will be answered one by one as the saga unfolds, showing the fight of a survivor against numerous odds.

He will be given another chance…

…and the fate of two timelines will rest in his hands.

Now, it begins…

Exhaustion. That was the first thing he felt, followed by sharp pain where he'd impacted the cracked, concrete sidewalk and been hit by his older, evil self. He had used so much pure, raw energy in his last two attacks, pouring all of the energy he had into them. Even as he powered down and nearly collapsed to the rubble, only a part of the path of destruction in the wake of the battle's destruction, he knew it was over. Whoever won the fight would change the future.

A fist gloved in black clawed out of the rockpile, trying to get free. The rocky pile burst in every direction as the enemy of the future threw the broken concrete and stonework off of his body with one massive heave. His cold expression screamed murder as he turned his soulless red gaze to his younger counterpart.

"That's it, isn't it?" he spat chillingly in a deep, malevolent tone.

Danny's eyes flashed a dangerous neon green. "Time's up."

Taking the Fenton Thermos in hand and gripping it firmly, he aimed it at his evil future counterpart and activated it. As if in slow motion, the device's blue-white beam engulfed the monster, slowly, painstakingly pulling him into the trap. Just before he disappeared into the thermos, he spoke one last sentence. "They can't escape, and it's too late to save them." Then, he was gone.

The exhausted teen capped the device quickly and securely with practiced ease, turning as he summoned all the strength he had left in his weakened body, running, sprinting, toward his trapped family and friends. He tried to transform again but found he didn't have the energy to, only managing to bring up the blue-white rings before they vanished seconds later.

"I can't go ghost," he whispered in a frightened tone. He kept on running, trying to ignore the signs of tiredness in his body even as the edges of his vision darkened. _There's no time to rest! Their lives are at stake! Come on, faster!_

Even through the best of Danny's efforts, he could feel the need for rest creeping op on him. He could barely see through his blurred vision. The combination of exhaustion and loss of proper sight did its terrible work. His foot struck a projecting rock, and he fell heavily to the torn ground.

_Mom! Dad! Jazz! Sam! Tucker!_ Then after a short pause, _Mr. Lancer!_ "Nnoooooo!!!" The cry ripped out of the boy like the howl of a wounded wolf. He looked up, only to lock eyes with the people he had failed to protect. They held no accusation in them, but only acceptance. They forgave him, but he had failed to do what he had promised.

_I'm sorry…_

As he lay there helpless on the ground, the temperature gauge of the Nasty Sauce hit max. Just before unconsciousness claimed him and the Nasty Burger exploded, he closed his eyes, unable to watch.

_I'm sorry. So sorry._

Then, darkness.

-

He woke up in a cold sweat. Hyperventilating, he took a frantic look around. It was night, and he was in a bed inside a clean hospital room, not lying in the parking lot of the destroyed fast food joint like he'd remembered. Then the events on the previous day crashed onto him in a wave that overwhelmed him. It was not a dream. It really had happened, and they were all gone. And it was his fault.

He buried his face into the covers, crying deeply and bitterly, berating himself for ever thinking to cheat on that test. Salt tears coursed down his face in watery rivulets as he remembered all of the events that had led to the night before. He cried until he had no more tears left to cry, every last crystal drop filled with emotions that he had known of but never truly felt. The feeling of loss and emptiness… he felt a tear in his heart where his family and friends used to be. It would be hard and painful to refill, but not impossible.

Two wise red eyes watched from afar as the boy cried himself to sleep under his watchful gaze. He knew what paths the boy would encounter, what trials and obstacles he would face. The ancient being floated over to the viewing screen and touched its surface gently. The image rippled and split into three futures, one of which his young charge would take. One showed the current future, filled with darkness and destruction; another showed a tragically emotionless life of hidden sorrow and depression; the last one was most hopeful, full of challenges, but happiness as well. The Master of Time smiled slightly. He, of all of the Ancient Ones, had been chosen to give one of the created a second chance. It was up to him to offer it, but the boy's choice would determine his own fate. After all, who ever said that destiny was set in stone? Truthfully, though the ancient knew the twists and turns in each path, he did not know which the boy would take. He would just have to help him make the right decision. Unlike one eternal Being, he would never completely know everything.

-

A week later, Danny finally recovered. He had been in the hospital for three days after the accident due to second-degree burns from the explosion and wounds from fighting his evil future self, but he had been released because of his fast healing. While recovering, he had gotten visits and cards from every other one of his classmates and their parents. He had learned that Mr. Lancer had been replaced by one Janice Foley, Tucker's mom. Sam's and Tucker's parents had filed a lawsuit against the owners of the Nasty Burger and had won tens of thousands of dollars as a result. Both had offered to help him with finances, but he had declined, feeling certain that he would not be staying around long enough to need it. At his family and friends' funeral, he did not cry. He simply had no more tears left. He just stared at the ground blankly as the last speeches were said. As he went home, he promised them that he would never let something like that happen again. He would leave everything behind and start anew.

Now, Danny was back at Fenton Works, cleaning everything from the basement to the OP center of dust that had collected while he was in the hospital. Setting the broom down against a lab table, he sighed.

"Why do I even bother doing this?" he mumbled. "What's next for me? I know I can't stay here, but I don't have many choices. Living with Vlad is definitely not an option since that thing will happen and their deaths will have been all for nothing, so what next?" He looked at a frame with a picture of his family and friends, ignoring the tightening in his stomach and water behind his eyes. "I can't live with my aunt, and I don't know if I have any other living relatives. I can live alone, but then I might lose myself. That should not be an option. It would be totally against what they would want for me. So what's next?!" the distraught teen banged his head on the wall, trying to come up with an answer to the impossible question. It was a question that would soon be answered.

_"Time Out!"_

Time stopped. A blue clock hand appeared in the room, spinning around rapidly to create a portal for the Master of Time to pass through. The wise ancient looked at his young charge and smiled in amusement. Danny had his fists in the air, head forward inches from the wall, with his mouth wide open in frustration. Clockwork floated over, picked him up, and turned him away from the wall. "Time In."

Still in motion, Danny hit the wall that was no longer in front of him. As a result, he lost balance and tripped because of his momentum. "Arghh! I know that the wall was here a second ago. Oh great, now I'm hallucinating."

Then, he sensed a ghost in the room. Shifting into a defensive stance instinctively, he scanned the room quickly. His eyes immediately lit on Clockwork in toddler form. Reflexively, he transformed upon sighting him.

"You!" Danny shouted, green eyes flaring angrily. "Why are _you_ here? Did you come to gloat that everything you predicted happened, huh? Going to kill me with that scythe of yours like you were a week ago? Are you gonna –"

The time-protecting ancient interrupted him, raising a hand for silence while changing into his young adult form. "I did not come to gloat, nor did I come to kill you, Danny. I have simply come because you have been authorized to be given a Second Chance."

"Wait, what?"

The Time Master decided to be reasonably blunt. "A Second Chance is only given when a timeline is in extreme peril. There are two visible futures that you could take without it, neither of which are good for you or the timeline. However, I am able to give you an alternative, another chance. If you agree, you will be trained in the required arts for a year in the hidden areas of the Ghost Zone, and then you will be transported to its mother dimension to ensure that your current one is not destroyed like in that other future. This also gives the Ancient Ones and opportunity to align the adjacent timelines. The choice is yours."

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked, crossing his arms suspiciously.

"Rest assured, I have absolutely no intention of endangering either timeline or your life. I have been commanded to become your guardian by the Council, so it must be so. Second Chances are not often given, for they alter Time itself. Because of this, one can only be given in the direst situation. So will you take it, Danny?"

The teen scrunched his face in thought. "I think he means it. What do I have left here? Two unpleasant futures, an arch nemesis, and one person that I barely started calling friend two weeks ago. Valerie would be the only person in this world that I would miss. Since Clockwork seems to care about this place, the ghost problem would have to be fixed or he wouldn't ask me right now. Valerie can be the new protector, just like she always wanted. She and her dad can live in Fenton Works, and everything will be as if I never lived here. If I took it, I might actually get a chance to set everything right and live like they would want me to. If I refuse, I might never get an offer like it again. I have nearly nothing to lose, and almost everything to gain. So…"

"I accept," His firm tone echoed throughout the nearly-empty basement. "On one condition. That I can have some normal form of contact with this world just as if I was still here."

Clockwork nodded, changing into young adult form. "It can be done." He pulled a time medallion from his cloak and tossed it to Danny. "Before you ask, you are going to Japan, specifically their hidden shinobi villages. I am quite certain that you have mentioned wanting to become a ninja no fewer than three times less in your lifetime than you have mentioned wanting to become an astronaut. When you feel absolutely ready, pour your energy into this medallion and you will be transported to Kieruhagakure, where you will learn the language and train for the year. Make sure you take everything you need, because you will be gone for a long time. Goodbye, Danny." He waved, and then disappeared in a blue swirl of light, just in the same way as he came.

"…" Danny blinked. And gaped. And blinked again.

"I'm going to be a ninja?!"

-

After getting over his initial surprise, Danny decided that he would comply with the Time Master's obvious suggestion to go to these hidden villages and leave his dimension. As the wise being had not told him when to arrive, he decided to give himself four days to get ready and to say goodbye to the few people left who he still had connections with in his world. Truthfully, it wasn't as hard to leave as he'd originally thought. He didn't feel any big regrets on leaving, nor did he feel a great need to stay. After explaining to his friends' parents, the Foleys and Mansons, who had taken temporary guardianship of him, they consented and offered to pay for his trip. He told them that their money wouldn't be needed, as everything had already been paid for. Rather, there was no need to pay.

In talking with Valerie, the black-haired teen debated with himself if he should tell her his secret or not. In the end, he decided not to tell her directly but instead give her some strong hints. He didn't need to pour salt into old wounds. He gave her father full ownership of Fenton Works and all mechanisms inside, as well as everything that his family had owned. He figured that since he'd be gone for who knows how long, he wouldn't need anything from his world for a while. Damon was extremely grateful and offered to leave a room of the house unused for him should he ever want to return. Danny gave his thanks and complied.

Before he left, he took Valerie aside. "Fenton, Wha –?" Danny put a finger over his lips to stop her question. He looked her in the eye, showing her that what he would say would be serious. "Valerie, you already know that I'm leaving tomorrow. Where I'm going, you won't be able to visit as far as I know. You won't be seeing me for a long time, and I don't know if I'll be able to visit you either. Since that means there won't be any true ghost hunters around, I'll put it on you to train yourself to be one. I have a stash of weapons hidden in my room. If you can find it, you can use it."

"Y-you mean, you hunted ghosts too?"

He nodded somberly and half-turned, head down. "I will never truly live in Amity ever again. Once I leave, the more powerful ghosts will leave too, but you will be needed in my stead to continue in keeping the city safe just in case. There's just one thing left for me to do." He turned back to her and held out his hand for her to shake. He clasped his fingers around her wrist firmly and raised his head, locking eyes with his only living friend in this world for the last time in an unknown length of time. She gasped. His eyes were an intense blazing green. "I hope that you are more successful than I was as the new protector of our city, Red Huntress, Valerie, my friend. Goodbye." Then, he vanished before her eyes.

Danny ran off invisibly, not bothering to see her reaction. He only returned to visibility when he reached the hotel in which he would spend his last night as a true resident of Amity. The only possessions he had bothered to bring were several changes of clothes, his toothbrush and toothpaste, some snacks, several photo albums, and some small items to remind him of the people he was leaving. He sat on the side of the bed and checked the time.

**6:45 P.M.**

Deciding that he would want an early start, he sighed deeply and flopped over onto his back, wrinkling the covers. Rolling over, he draped the blanket over himself subconsciously and closed his eyes. The emotionally tired boy drifted off to a deep, dreamless sleep as dark clouds began to cover the sun like giant, ominous birds of prey sparring in the sky, shadowing his young face. Thunder rumbled softly on the horizon as jagged blue bolts raced through the atmosphere. And the heavens wept for those that had been lost.

-

**5:03 A.M.**

It was nearly dawn. Streetlights still remained on, showing the way to early pedestrians and drivers. A faint red glow was visible in the distance, penetrating clear summer skies, the sun barely showing its rays over the earth's curve. A youth with a bag slung over his shoulder trudged quietly through the streets of Amity, walking steadily toward his destination: a cold, silent cemetery.

Approaching a particular monument solemnly, he knelt carefully on the damp, newly dug soil, placing a few flowers beneath the engraving on the hard granite that marked his family and friends' final resting spot. The words 'Gone, but not forgotten' were carved into it, right over the dates of their births and deaths. He brushed some dirt off of it, whispering to it as he did.

"I can't believe you're all gone. I just can't. It's so hard to accept that whenever I wake up, you won't be there. You supported me and gave everything you had to keep me going. Mom, Dad, even though you hunted me, you were doing what you thought was right to protect Jazz and me. Even in the embarrassing moments, you were trying to help in the ways that you thought were good. You achieved your dreams, letting nothing stand in your way, no matter how many people thought that you were crazy. I don't know if you would be proud of me for keeping my other half a secret from you. You would probably be beating yourselves for not noticing sooner.

"Jazz, I know that you were always overprotective of me. I'd always wondered what life would be like without an annoying older sister, but now I regret ever thinking that. If you were still here, you'd most probably be blaming yourself for causing this mess because I got jealous of your test scores. What would my life be like if I'd told you my secret? Would you have become more protective? Supportive? A part of our team?" he shifted his eyes down the stone to his former teacher's name.

"Mr. Lancer, I really didn't get to know you at all, even if you were my teacher. Yeah, you weren't exactly my favorite teacher, but you tried to help my grades and make me a better student, even if you were unknowingly unfair in giving me some of those detentions. I truly think that you were thinking about what was best for me, and I'm sorry that my absences tested your patience so much. If you're worrying about who will take your position, you don't have to anymore. Tucker's mom took over for you, surprisingly. Wherever you are, wish all the luck in the world on her. She'll need it to keep her patience like you did.

"Tucker, Sam, you guys must be yelling 'I told you so' from wherever you are. You told me not to cheat, but I did anyway. That was the mistake that cost you your lives. You are the best friends that I could ever have. All those things we went through together… through all those times you helped me, saved me, but in the end, I couldn't save you. I know that you want me to move on. I'll try, but don't ever expect for one second, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson, that I'll ever forget about you guys. You are part of my life, the reason why I'll keep going. Tucker, you were like a brother to me. Sam, I'm sorry I never told you how I felt about you. I love you."

The soon-to-be ninja trainee stood up carefully so as not to disturb the freshly turned earth. Stooping slightly, he planted a kiss on her name. "I'll never forget any of you or what you did for me. I swear that even if I wasn't able to protect you, I'll protect everyone I find that is precious to me with the rest of my life. If any of them die, it will be because I wasn't there, or they killed me first."

The sun's edge was now visible, showing a clear blue sky tinged with gold and pink, a great contrast with the stormy skies of the night. Like a giant, colorful dragon flashing its scales, a full rainbow in all its glory gradually appeared above the teen. Looking up at it, he reached around his neck and pulled the time medallion over his head. Holding it out in front of him, still facing the monument, he concentrated his energy into it. After a few seconds, it began to glow. Glancing at his hometown for the last time, he smiled slightly.

"No matter what happens, I won't break that promise. I can't change the past, but I can change the future."

With a flash of blue-gold light, he disappeared from the sight of the known side of the world. They would not see him again… for one year. But as time runs at different lengths in different dimensions, that was, in his new world's perspective, technically untrue.

Those who live by traveling across the dimensions are very rare…

…Alone, they can only _hope_ to stay alive, but with help, they might _survive_.

Here, not only will one survive, he will _live_.

From now on, the journey of the survivor _begins_.


	2. One Year Later

Today is Naruto's birthday! Scroll to the bottom for translations. Old-time Naruto fans, please bear with the long explanations. They're mainly for the new-timers. Read and review!

-

Butch Hartman owns rights (that means canon DP)

Masashi Kishimoto

He owns Naruto (Canon)

– Disclaimer: a Haiku by Shadow

-

Kyūbi was sealed

That dark night, October 10th

Naruto's birthday

– Happy Birthday, Naruto: a Haiku by Shadow

-

Faded leaves of past

Kieruhagakure

Old flames rise anew

– The Fallen Leaves: a Haiku by Shadow

-

One Year Later

Subtitled: Venture into the Next Dimension, Yamakaze-san!

Danny was always a quick learner. Even after his accident with the portal, that had not changed. His teachers mostly would've said otherwise since his grades had started dropping drastically because he had no real time to study properly, but that was because they knew nothing of his double life. If they _had _known, they would've been shocked at his true genius.

His learning abilities truly began to surface after leaving. All of the time he had was now spent on learning and improving on whatever he had learned. As a result of trying to memorize so much information at one time, he had – after the first three months – gradually developed near-photographic memory, which he exercised constantly up to an extreme extent, causing some people to wonder if he was a descendant of the Uchiha clan. He was completely able to reproduce a copy of a book – word for word – after reading it only twice, along with a redrawing of any illustrations within the same manuscript.

A perfect example of this is when he managed to master the Japanese language as well as the written hiragana, katakana, kanji, and romaji in _seven months flat_. One exception to this was when it took him 548 tries while learning how to get the hang of those wooden, pencil-thin eating utensils, also known as chopsticks, particularly when attempting to grab some oh-so-great-smelling chicken fried rice while on a painfully empty stomach.

Kieruha was a completely hidden part of the Ghost Zone, and so would be populated by those shinobi who died in the original Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. If you visited both territories in succession, the only way to tell the difference would be the order of the heads on the Hokage monuments in each respective village. In the living world, four heads were carved, of the Shodai, Nidaime, Sandaime, and Yondaime respectively. However, in the former, there were only three; the Shodai, Nidaime, and Yondaime, in order of death instead of ruling.

There were other places around this land that were just as memorable as the Kage monument, but Danny's most favorite site in the village was definitely the ancient library, which had been founded several weeks after the village was built.

We now see him reading a scroll on Ijutsu – medical techniques – one of the subjects that he'd become interested in, inside that same library. He really loved his new life in Kieruhagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Faded Leaves. The boy would often come here to learn more about his temporary and soon-to-be permanent homes and different ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques. He checked the time and saw that he had to leave. He borrowed the scroll quickly, noting that he would have to send it back by seal mail when he was done with it, and walked casually toward his friends' meeting place, now and then speeding up slightly to give himself a time edge. As the soft breezes blew through his spiky hair, he reminisced about his first hours within the village.

-

-

"So, you finally made it here," the time master said.

"Yeah, I didn't take long in getting ready. I just brought the necessities." Danny set his backpack on the ground and took a quick glance at where he had landed.

It was a… bedroom? Confused, he took a longer look. There was a knee-high, oriental-looking bed on one side; on the other stood a desk full of writing material and a shelf stacked with scrolls and books. A symbol of a red and white fan decorated the wall above the bed, and a picture of a strangely familiar yet different mountain with four heads carved on it hung on the opposite side.

_Mount Rushmore?! What's with the different faces? I thought Abraham Lincoln had a beard. I really wasn't the best in history class, but I know for a fact that none of the presidents on Mount Rushmore had spiky hair. What in the world?!_

Ignoring Danny's bewildered look, Clockwork began to explain about the room. "Welcome to the most hidden place of the Ghost Zone, Kieruhagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Faded Leaves. This will be your room," he gestured with a sweeping motion, "for the next year. Now, everyone that needs to know already knows that you're here, so I will not need to stay here for most of the duration of your stay.

"Before you ask, yes, all of the residents here are spirits or ghosts if you prefer. However, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them and living people. I expect you to treat them no differently than you would if they were still alive. I will check up on your progress from time to time, so brush up on your Japanese while I'm gone."

Danny nodded and took another look at the stuffed bookcase. He gulped inwardly. "It's not going to be easy, is it?"

"It will only be as hard as you make it out to be. You'll have a guide to help, so don't worry too much," the time master shrugged. "Speaking of guides, he should be coming right about –"

A crash interrupted the explanations as a voice echoed through the hallways. "Where is he? I know his room is around here somewhere! Is he even _here _yet?!"

"Hey!"

"Watch it!"

"SORRY! Sorry, Sakami-san, Ojiisan!"

There were more similar noises as the banging and crashing resumed. Danny quirked an eyebrow at Clockwork, who chuckled sheepishly. "– now."

"Sugoi! I found it!" The voice yelled right behind the closed door.

_BAM!_

It slammed open with a loud thud. A boy with spiky black hair, dark onyx eyes, and a huge, blinding grin bounded into the room. He looked about the same age as Danny, and seemed nearly the same height, if not taller by one or two inches.

He wore a blue and orange jacket, light-material pants of the same color, darker blue zori sandals, shuriken and kunai pouches on his waist, and a pair of orange-tinted goggles that rested comfortably on his head amid the black spikes of hair. The picture was completed by a navy blue forehead protector, its metal plate engraved with the design of a spiral leaf. What drew the blue-eyed teen's attention most was the red and white fan symbol that matched the one on the wall embroidered on the back of the boy's shirt, which could be seen through the reflection of the mirror in the hallway behind him.

His attention turned to the time master, though his eyes kept switching back and forth from him to Danny. "Oi, Tokikage-ojiisan! Is this him?"

The mentioned Clockwork shrugged and smiled. "Hai, that's him. I expect you to take good care of him during the year, ne, Obito?"

"Hai, hai, ojiisan! No problem at all! He only really needs to be careful of the awesome and great pranksters around here," Obito said, flashing his grin at him.

"Alright, just don't go too hard on him with _your _pranks then. I have a meeting with the Council now. Goodbye, Danny. Ja ne!" then he vanished in a puff of smoke.

The young ninja turned his everlasting grin to Danny and just stood there in that position. This lasted for a few minutes, and Danny was seriously starting to get creeped out. "Um, hi, my name's Danny. You're going to be showing me around, right?"

In a flash, Obito's face was six inches in front of his. Danny blinked, as he had not seen the teen move. The hyperactive boy shook his hand vigorously while introducing himself. "I'm Uchiha Obito, but you can just call me Obito. My job is to help you with the basics, as in your Japanese speech and academy ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu while we're at it! I'll get some of my friends to help out, so don't worry!" he flashed his grin yet again and did a pose with a thumbs-up. You could swear that it made an audible 'ping'.

He shuddered inwardly. "Uhh, okay?"

The Uchiha grabbed onto his wrist and dragged him out the door. "Yatta! This is the start of our tour! Your room is in the second level in the white building of the Uchiha compound. The compound is made up of several buildings that house our clan. It's a real pain trying to get through to the first level, so everybody usually uses the windows to get out. This is the window closest to your room, so it's your exit!"

Danny looked at him as if he was insane. "How am I supposed to jump out of a second story window and land in one piece? Why don't you just fly out?"

Obito stared at him in disbelief until it finally dawned on him. "Right, I forgot. You haven't had any shinobi training yet, have you? We'll get to that tomorrow after the tour's over. And to answer your question, we _can _fly as well as use invisibility and intangibility, but there is a lot more chance of getting targeted with kunai by some of the newcomers around here, and we don't use the last two a whole lot. The only ones who fly every day are members of the Nara clan. Anyways, you better just grab on tight!"

"…"

A few seconds later, he was hanging onto his neck as they perched on the windowsill two floors above ground level. The energetic boy turned to his passenger. "You ready?" He gulped and nodded. "Well, here I go!"

They launched off the side of the building, and for one terrifying moment, Danny was falling. He bit his tongue to hold in a scream as he felt the wind rushing past his ears faster than he had ever flown. His stomach churned as if he had gone down a drop on a rollercoaster. Then, it was over.

"You did pretty well for a first-timer! Honestly, I thought that you would be screaming like a girl!" Obito laughed. "Speaking of girls, I hope that we don't run into my fan club while we're shopping. I'd rather not go shopping right now since the mall is where they all go, but you really need new clothes. I mean seriously, jeans? Wearing stuff like that is one surefire way to get killed by an enemy ninja."

Sliding off the taller boy's back, Danny groaned and wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into.

-

-

That was a year ago.

Tucking the borrowed scroll into his knapsack in the present time, he took a brisker pace and launched himself onto one of the nearby building roofs, beginning and maintaining a steady roof-hopping rhythm towards his destination. Adjusting to the change of transportation, he continued similarly through the virtual urban jungle of a village. His mind again wandered off to the past times. It wouldn't hurt to keep going for five more minutes with the time edge he had. Some of his friends would be late anyway.

Even while Danny's mind spaced off, he continued to traverse the roofs of the village with ease without needing to look down like he had when he'd first learned how to roof and branch-hop safely.

On his first day, he found out how much different that civilians were to shinobi in terms of abilities. He had to admit that even with his own abilities, the newest capable academy graduate could've given him a run for his money when he began training.

True to his word, Obito taught him various basic ninja techniques like the Bunshin no Jutsu and Henge no Jutsu and how to use them. These techniques were created through the use of chakra, a natural energy that flows through the body, enhancing physical abilities when used. Catching sight of his checkpoint, Danny grinned and remembered when he learned about the source of ninjutsu and genjutsu.

-

-

Danny sat on the big rock that he and the rather unusual Uchiha had agreed on to use as a checkpoint, tugging on collar of his new shirt slightly. Due to him and Obito going shopping the previous day, he had to buy a few sets of shinobi clothes, which the dark-haired ninja had helped choose. Thankfully, it wasn't colored some unnaturally bright shade of blue or orange like that _thing _he wore constantly.

Danny now wore a light blue fishnet shirt under an unzipped black jacket with sleeves that ended a few inches higher than his elbow, black shinobi pants tied with several white and light blue bandages just above his right knee, and the standard black _zori _sandals as opposed to his usual white and red shirt with blue jeans and sneakers.

He looked toward the sun in the blue sky, slightly wondering why it wasn't green like the rest of the Ghost Zone, (in the future he would find out that it was really an unbreakable genjutsu set up by the Maito clan) to calculate the time and tapped his feet and hands impatiently.

Wasn't that crazy, hyperactive teen that wore kill-me-now-neon-blue-and-orange, a practical _human lighthouse _to both civilians and shinobi, supposed to arrive about three hours ago? Let's see; _"Oi Danny, don't forget to wait for me at the meeting point tomorrow at 7:15! Sensei and Rin will come with me to teach you about chakra and some other stuff. I'll be teaching you the basic academy ninjutsu after. Don't be late!"_

Yup, Obito was definitely late. _He'd better run when he gets here, 'cause I highly doubt that he'd be able to escape from me, ninja or not!_ Danny thought, seething inwardly. He suddenly caught a glimpse of orange and blue in the surrounding forest and smiled evilly, cracking his knuckles. The hyperactive boy burst out of the undergrowth and ran towards him, unaware of the danger.

Sliding to a halt, he explained, "Sorry I'm late, there was this black cat that crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around to get here."

"…" Danny's right eye twitched. "You took _three hours _to walk around a dumb _cat_?! You_ liar!" _he pushed off of the rock and charged at him.

Obito backed up, holding his hands out in front of himself protectively. "Maa, maa, there's no need to be unreasonable, it's just – yaaaaah!" A fist came down on him and… splintered him into pieces? _What in the world?!_ The dark-haired teen looked down at the rotten log that he had punched instead of the spiky-haired annoyance. _Where _is _he?_

"Uh, that was Kawarimi no Jutsu, an academy-level ninjutsu that replaces you with a nearby object. It's one of the ones that I'm supposed to teach you today, that is if you don't want to kill me anymore."

He whirled around quickly. "How come I can't sense you?" he asked the slightly laid-back shinobi.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I'm a ninja; civilians aren't _supposed _to sense us."

Danny ignored the slight barb and continued, "No, I mean that I have some sort of… I don't know, sixth sense that tells me when a Ghost Zone resident is nearby. This is the first time that it hasn't been triggered around one, namely you."

"Uhh, sensei's supposed to explain that to you, but I guess I can tell you what I know before he gets here. If he hadn't told me, I would've thought that Tokikage-ojiisan would've told you at least _some _stuff before coming here –"

"And the thing about that too. Why do you call Clockwork 'Tokikage'?"

Obito made a short defensive gesture and grimaced. "Woah, one question at a time! Then again, considering that you're absolutely ignorant of any and all titles and formal addresses in the Elemental Countries, I guess I can let it slide. I'll answer your second question first. There are five great shinobi nations – the Elemental Countries – in both the living world and in the Ghost Zone, but the dead ones aren't too important in your studies. Each nation is named after their ninjas' primary element use or its location; Hi no Kuni, Fire Country; Kaze no Kuni, Wind Country; Mizu no Kuni, Water Country; Tsuchi no Kuni, Earth Country; Kaminari no Kuni, Lightning Country.

"All nations are ruled by their daimyo, otherwise known as a feudal lord. He helps finance the _hidden village _of his nation, but that's pretty much all he's useful for.

"The people that live here in Kieruhagakure no Sato, the Faded Leaf village, originally lived in Konohagakure no Sato, the Hidden Leaf village of Hi no Kuni.

"To the Northwest lies Iwagakure no Sato, the Hidden Rock village of Tsuchi no Kuni; to the Northeast, Kumogakure no Sato, the Hidden Cloud village of Kaminari no Kuni. Both nations are enemies with Konoha for various reasons.

"Over the sea to the East lies Kirigakure no Sato, the Hidden Mist village of Mizu no Kuni. They're neutral to us, but they host a lot of internal strife within their country.

"Finally, to the West lies Sunagakure no Sato, the Hidden Sand village of Kaze no Kuni. They are currently our allies, but who knows when that will change.

"All of the Elemental hidden villages are ruled by a _Kage_, or _Shadow_, who is the strongest ninja of the village; Hokage, Tsuchikage, Raikage, Mizukage, and Kazekage; Fire Shadow, Earth Shadow, Lightning Shadow, Water Shadow, and Wind Shadow respectively. We of the Ghost Zone Elemental Countries call Clockwork "Tokikage" because he is the master of time; therefore, he would be called the "Time Shadow". Now you see?"

Danny looked at the sky contemplatively with a raised eyebrow as he thought it over. "Yeah, but that still doesn't explain why I can't sense you. Didn't you say that your _sensei _and your teammate were coming?"

Obito crossed his arms behind his head and leaned against the large rock. "Yeah, but he said that they'd be coming after lunch. Don't worry about it. He can get around pretty fast. Speaking of fast, you might want to get off of the spot you're sitting on before sensei knocks you over."

Danny glanced down and saw a circle inscribed with multiple kanji underneath him. He jumped off of the projection of stone hurriedly to land beside the Uchiha, and just in time, too. As he watched, a yellow flash obscured his line of sight, leaving spots in his eyes. He blinked several times to clear his vision and saw two people standing where he'd been sitting one second ago. He mentally logged their appearances into his memory.

The first one, a girl, was about the same age as Obito if he calculated by looks. Her shoulder-length hair was an unusually natural-looking shade of magenta and was held back from her face with a ninja headband, showing two rectangular marks of the same color on her cheeks. A nondescript short sleeve dark brown shirt, a lighter brown knee-length skirt with bandages wrapped around her shins, and black zori sandals completed her clothing. Her dark eyes shone in anticipation, and she smiled warmly at him and Obito.

Danny's eyes trailed from the magenta-haired kunoichi to rest on the face of the second figure. He was a tall young man who couldn't have been a day over twenty-one. He wore black zori sandals, black ninja pants, and a green vest under a long white coat with red flames along its bottom edge.

He had a calm, commanding aura around him that made Danny relax unconsciously and even smile a bit. The tall ninja ran a hand through long, golden spikes, brushing the metal of his forehead-protector underneath. Deep, ocean-blue eyes glinted cheerfully over sharp, angular cheekbones, accenting a huge, eye-crinkling grin. Danny started to feel a bit surer about his decision to become a ninja.

He watched in interest as they jumped down casually without a sound and leaned on the rock. The blond ninja slouched against the hard stone and grinned at Obito. "So, Tokikage-dono gave you another mission already? It looks like a special case this time, neh, Tobi-kun? I think that introductions are in order. Yosh! I'll start."

"I thought we agreed not to use that name outside missions, Hokage-sensei," Obito grumbled.

His sensei brushed off the comment nonchalantly but flicked him in the ear for the 'title'. "You'll get used to it sometime. Alright, I'm Namikaze Minato, but you'll either call me Minato-sensei or just sensei. Under no circumstances are you going to call me Minato-sama or Namikaze-sama like a lot of the bakas that live here. I like my team, my wife Kushina-chan, ramen, and creating new jutsu. I dislike having to wait for my ramen, idiot fangirls and the occasional creepy fanboy who already know that I'm married, and baka ninja and civilians that can't see past their noses. Dreams for the future, well, my only dream is to see my son grow up well and become a great shinobi who surpasses me. You can go next, Obito."

The black-haired ninja snickered and crossed his arms behind his head. "Sensei, you forgot to say that you like spying on the outside world through your glass TV sphere thingy, that you don't like Jiraiya-sensei doing his 'research', and you hope that your son never reads one of his books. Am I missing anything? Oh yeah, you just _love _being the Yondaime Hokage and your nickname, 'Konoha no Kiiroi Senko' that you earned because of your teleportation technique, Hiraishin no Jutsu, and that 'flee on sight' order that Iwagakure has on you, and you hate being called Hokage-sama, Yondaime-sama or Hokage-sensei."

_Hokage? Isn't that who Obito said was the strongest ninja of a village? Is he that strong, then?_

The Yondaime cleared his throat. Obito scratched his neck sheepishly. "Oh, right. I'm Uchiha Obito, a member of the most famous and unfortunately one of the most stuck-up clans in all of Konoha and Kieruha. I like my friends, my teammates, ramen, and the colors blue and orange." Danny gagged at that. "I hate being called _Tobi-kun _outside missions –" here his teammate snorted with suppressed laughter even as he glared at her "– people who are inconsiderate of that fact, stuck-up clan members who most probably have some log or stick up their butts –" Danny clamped his mouth shut and held his breath to hold his laughs in, and the shorter kunoichi had to bite her tongue to keep hers down "– and anything that falls into that category. My dreams for the future are to receive a long-term mission to Konoha and to show Kakashi-teme how much of a better ninja I am than he is!" The Uchiha nudged his teammate in the ribs. She gasped, couldn't take it any more, and burst out laughing. Danny hid his laughs in his arm.

She regained her composure a minute later. "Heh, ha, yeah. My name is Rin. I like my teammates, sparring, meeting new people, and learning and creating new medical jutsu. I hate it when people underestimate me because I'm a kunoichi, wannabe kunoichi that enter the academy just because their crush is joining, bakas who think they can boss me around, evil people who would hurt a defenseless child, and irresponsible people who overuse their techniques and land themselves in the hospital because they injured themselves. My dreams for the future are to surpass the legendary kunoichi Tsunade in everything, including strength and healing abilities and to win against her in a one-on-one all out spar to prove it."

She tapped Danny on the shoulder. He winced mentally at the subtle force, noting that he would never want her mad at him.

"Oh, right. I'm Danny. I like drawing, good advice, and anyone who wants to be my friend. I hate the thing that killed my family and friends and the actions by me that set it off. My dreams are to make new friends who aren't replacements, to move on and start over with life, and to become strong enough to protect everything and everyone precious to me."

Silence followed his words. The wind gusted through the training ground, ruffling the hair of the three shinobi and the ninja trainee.

Obito bowed his head. _If only you knew… Danny…_

The Yondaime closed his eyes and leaned back a bit further, feeling the breeze blowing across his face. _He's not even started his ninja training, and he already experienced something like this. He seems to be taking it well, as he looks to have no great desire for revenge, but what would it be like if this happened again? Those are worthy goals, but in the shinobi life, things like this happen almost every day. If something like that happens to him again… he might lose it. I hope you know what you're doing, Tokikage-sama. _

Rin broke the quiet. "Hey, are we going to help Danny-san train or what? Sensei can teach the basics of chakra and handseals, I can teach chakra control techniques, and Obito can start him off with the academy ninjutsu."

Minato broke into a grin. "Yosh! Rin-chan, Obi-kun, you can get ready over there. I won't take long here."

Rin saluted and began to walk off. "Hai, sensei!"

Following Rin, Obito grumbled under his breath, "I don't like that name either," and dragged his feet to a spot about fifty feet away.

Minato turned to Danny. "So, Danny-kun, tell me what you already know and I'll get you started from there."

"Okay, Obito told me a bit about the Elemental Nations and their Daimyo and Kage, the names of the Hokages and the ninja ranks, Genin, Chūnin, Jōnin, Tokubetsu Jōnin, and ANBU, and that ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu are ninja, illusionary, and hand-to-hand techniques, and that the first two are created through the use of chakra. That's basically it."

"Looks like Obito's been slacking a bit. Tell me, do you know what chakra is?" He asked. Danny shook his head.

The Yondaime sighed. "Chakra is a mixture of the physical energy that resides in your muscles and in the rest of your body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once mixed, it can be channeled through the chakra circulatory system, which is to chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the 361 chakra points, which we call tenketsu, in the body. When expelled through the tenketsu, any visible chakra is usually blue in color, but there are some exceptions. When you use up too much of your chakra reserves, you get a condition known as chakra exhaustion. The symptoms are extreme exhaustion, fainting, or in the most extreme cases, death.

"By mixing different ratios of the two energies, new types of chakra can be formed. The most common product is elemental chakra which is used to perform elemental jutsu. Some ninja can combine two different elemental chakra types to create a new type through a kekkei genkai, a bloodline limit, like in the wood release: Mokuton, of the Shodai Hokage and the ice release: Hyōton, of Kirigakure. We'll get to those once you're more experienced.

"Everyone has their own unique chakra signature, which can be sensed only if it remains at a high enough level. Ninja are trained to mask their chakra signature constantly, and the civilians' signatures cannot be sensed due to them not expanding their chakra reserves through training like we do, which is why you can't sense us.

"Chakra is extremely versatile and can be used in everything from healing to destroying. Control is needed to utilize your chakra safely and efficiently. The more chakra control you possess, the less you will need to use in a jutsu. As you know, ninjutsu and genjutsu are created through chakra use. To execute a successful jutsu, you must mold your chakra into certain forms to get the right reaction. This is usually done through the use of the twelve basic handseals: bird, boar, dog, dragon, ox, tiger, serpent, rat, horse, monkey, hare, and ram." He formed his hands to each respective seal slowly, stopping on ram.

"There are different sequences of hand seals for every technique, requiring memorization. While techniques may require a number of hand seals to work, a skilled ninja can use fewer or even one-handed seals to perform the same technique, though it is also possible do jutsu seallessly if you know what ways to mold your chakra without them."

He paused. "I'll demonstrate how it feels to channel your chakra. Hold your hands out for a second." The Hokage placed Danny's fingers into the ram seal, the index and middle fingers of both hands pointing up, while the last three on his right hand wrapped around the first two on his left and the last three on the left curled over his wrist. The blond ninja held onto Danny's wrist with one hand and made a half-seal with his other, channeling his own chakra into the teen's hand. Danny felt a cool, flowing, _familiar_ sensation tingle through his hand up to his wrist.

_I know I've felt this before, but when? Oh, right. I feel this whenever I transform!_

"So, do you get it?"

Danny nodded excitedly. "It feels… _familiar_. I know that I've used it before, I just didn't know what it really was!"

"You didn't know what chakra was, but you knew how to mold it?" Minato asked with a raised eyebrow.

He nodded again. "Yeah, I think so. It's funny, whenever I used my abilities, I always thought that they were ghost powers. Is the flying and everything else part of the package, or is it just me?"

Minato face suddenly turned serious, making Danny a bit nervous. "Show me. If I'm right, then I know one reason why Tokikage-dono left your training to me."

"O-okay," he gulped. Keeping his hands in the ram seal clumsily because of him not being used to it, he concentrated on the well of energy deep inside of him. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he focused it the way he normally would, through every inch of his body from his stomach and chest to the extremities. He visualized himself in his minds eye: his clothes turned black and silver, his normally black hair turned white, and his eyes became the brightest green, like two glowing moons. He opened his eyes and heard the Yondaime draw breath inward sharply.

"That's… this is…" he muttered under his breath. He composed himself quickly. "No, Danny, chakra doesn't give us spirit abilities. What you have is either a strange and unexplainable kekkei genkai, a bloodline limit, or, if my suspicions are correct…" he fell silent, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Danny, lift up your shirt."

"Wha –"

Minato cut him off. "I'll answer your questions later. I need to see something."

Danny complied, wondering what he just missed, but he figured that the blond ninja knew what he was doing. The Fourth Hokage crouched down and looked carefully at the boy's skin, particularly at a spot directly in the middle of his chest, slightly lower than his heart. "Danny, tell me. Are you completely certain that you want to become a shinobi? Would you be willing to possibly lose your abilities to get a new life?"

Without a second of hesitation, he nodded. "Yes."

Minato looked at him with respect in his eyes. "You truly want to achieve your goal. This is an admirable quality in a shinobi." _Then he really is a descendent of a dimension traveler. But the only dimension traveler that I know of is… but she's on a long-term mission to Kazegakure, so I can't ask her anything. It has to be her, though. She had the necklace that the Gobi was sealed into and enough knowledge about sealing to make it work, too. Now I see why you gave him this choice, Tokikage-dono. _He thought.

Danny scuffed a foot modestly, flushing very slightly. The Namikaze smiled, then turned serious again. "Have you ever taken off your shirt and looked in a mirror while using your abilities?" he paused for a while, taking the silence to be a "no".

"Take a look at the middle of your chest, and tell me what you see."

The black-haired teen craned his neck downward at an uncomfortable angle and looked where the tall ninja pointed. His eyebrows rose sharply when he saw something unfamiliar. "What is it? It looks like the kanji circle drawn on the rock that you appeared on, but a lot more crowded. How did I get this thing anyway?"

The Yondaime made a face. "Woah, you can slow down, you know. That thing is a seal, a rather stable six-point one to be precise. Whoever put it on you must've been a great seals master. I'll give you a book that explains everything, alright? Wait one second." For the second time that day, a yellow flash blinded Danny. A few seconds later, he returned with a book in hand and handed it to him. He read the title: Facts about the Nine Bijū for Dummies. He cocked an eyebrow at the man.

He chuckled sheepishly. "Once you get past the title, it's a pretty good book. And before I forget..." He reached out and firmly tapped Danny's chest where the seal was. (He'd already had his shirt down.) The teen gasped as he felt the energy, which he now knew to be chakra, flow toward the six-point seal, reversing his transformation. The ninja smiled. "That's why I asked you if you wouldn't mind if you lost your abilities. You must've gone through something life-threatening to make that seal go out of whack for so long until I corrected it. Try to focus chakra again. _Your _chakra this time."

Danny wondered what he meant, but decided that he'd just read the book later to answer his questions. He shrugged and complied with his now official sensei.

"Great! You pass this exercise. Now you can go over to Rin to learn chakra control!"

Danny grinned, thinking that he really would like living in Kieruha, then sweatdropped when he saw his temporary teammates both sleeping in trees. He decided that it would be a fun time, at least.

-

-

Danny's thoughts cut off when he sighted his destination. He froze. When his mind started working again, he wondered why what looked like half the village was there to see him. Then the cogs started turning and he remembered that he'd told Obito to tell his friends that he was leaving. When he said to tell his friends, he didn't mean _every friend and his whole clan! _"Obitoooo…" he growled. Then he spotted his other temporary teammate scolding the spiky-haired ninja. If he went by the lumps on Obito's head, he would say that he already had enough punishment.

He saw Clockwork among the small crowd and grinned, advancing forward. Suddenly, he felt a chakra flare above him, coupled with a swish in the air. Jumping forward swiftly, he intercepted several flying kunai with five of his own and turned toward his attacker. He grinned wider. "Sensei, I'm already leaving. I didn't know that you were _that _desperate to make me leave."

Minato landed beside his student and grinned. "You never know who might attack you on the way out the door, you know. You got pranked one time too many at the Uchiha compound, courtesy of Obito. Go wild on the lazy Konohagakure shinobi, alright?"

He grinned back. "Hai, sensei."

Yondaime ruffled his hair. "C'mon, let's go, wolfy-chan."

Danny growled at the nickname. "Now I know how Obito feels when you call him Tobi-kun. Personally, I think this name's worse."

Obito caught sight of him. "Oi, minna-san! Kuro's here!"

The small crowd cheered and rushed toward him. Danny smiled at his _real _nickname. It was the name that he'd picked to fit in with the Japanese-speaking _ninja_; Yamakaze Kuro. He and Obito coined it when they were messing with his lessons, with him himself devising the last name and Obito his first, Kuro. Again, he picked the Tokikage from the crowd and directed his footsteps toward him as the crowd followed behind. Stopping beside his guardian, he turned and viewed the people.

In the front were his team, Uchiha Obito, Rin, and the Yondaime Hokage, his sensei, Namikaze Minato, along with some of his other friends: Uchiha Takero, a friendly ninja of about his age and one of his best friends; Maito Wakasa, a member of the strange Maito clan, one of the rare few who could control his kekkei genkai of unbreakable genjutsu; Akimichi Chōma, a plump, good-natured fighter; and Inuzuka Kanaye with his ninken (ninja dog, nin-dog) Aoimaru. In the back were their families, not whole clans like he'd jokingly thought.

The crowd quieted down when Obito, Rin, and Takero stepped forward, carrying several scrolls with them. The black-haired teen looked at them, slightly puzzled, as they handed the scrolls to him. They grinned triumphantly at him. "We all decided to get you some gifts to bring with you, but we knew you couldn't carry them around normally, so we sealed them all into this scroll," Obito said.

"It's completely _loaded _with a lot of great stuff!" Rin added excitedly.

"The smaller scrolls are suiton jutsu that we found just lying around the compound. Nobody uses them, anyway, so we figured that you could use them," Takero supplied.

Danny grinned widely and crushed them in a hug. "Thanks so much, guys! I'll really miss you for everything we did together."

The two boys and girl struggled to get out of his grip. "T-he feeling is m-mutual, but could y-you let _go _now?!"

"Oops, sorry." He let go of them carefully, thankfully missing the Maito's declaration of his 'youthfulness'. He half-turned toward Clockwork, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "One more thing," the shorter Uchiha exclaimed. Him and Takero exchanged a quick glance and did a high five between them. A puff of smoke materialized around their hands and cleared to show an extremely well-crafted necklace. They grinned and shoved it over his head cheerfully. The pendant was a light blue crystal orb that made the light shift around it. It hung on a black, reinforced leather string. "Now take care of that. It's really, really valuable. You could buy three gold mines and the mountains above them if you sold it, but you really shouldn't," Minato said, coming up behind the boys.

"I'll be sure not to," he said, tears surfacing in his eyes.

The Yondaime used his cloak to wipe them off. "The rain gets into your eyes, ne, Kuro-kun?" he smiled. "As of today, I name you an honorary shinobi of Kieruhagakure. Until the day you die and become a full-time one, that will be your title here."

Danny shook his head, again half-turning. "I'd better go before my resolve gets shaken."

This time, Rin stopped him. "Not before everyone gets to say goodbye! Come on, everyone! GROUP HUG!" The crowd of friends cheered and surged forward. Danny looked in shock at the wall coming forward to meet him. "Rin…"

Screaming, they dog-piled around and on top of him, shouting farewells and random things about youthfulness. Minato, who had somehow avoided the stampede, reached in and plucked the honorary ninja out. "You're right, you _should _go," he joked. They went over to Clockwork, who was viewing the festivities in amusement. "Tokikage-dono, I think he's ready," the Namikaze said.

The time master turned to Danny. "Do you know what your mission is, Danny?" he asked.

He nodded. "My mission is to make sure that fewer people die when they don't deserve it and to get strong enough to completely destroy my ultimate enemy when he gets free again in the future. My self-made mission is to become as strong as strong as I can get, regardless of any threats, and also to find out who my ancestors were. You said that my family's roots are in Konoha, so I'll find them sooner or later. Blood runs thicker than water, so I hope that it holds true there, too."

The Tokikage shook his head approvingly. "Very well, stand right here, Danny." He indicated a spot in the middle of the ten-point seal traced onto the flat, packed-down earth. "Don't step out of this circle, and you'll be fine." He grinned. "As the time runs on a different speed there from your old world and will not align until your fourteenth birthday, you might find some _strange _stuff happening to you. I just thought you could use a warning."

The teen nodded. "Alright. I'll see you when the time comes, Clockwork!"

He shook his head in satisfaction. He moved into position and started a complex chain of 124 handseals quickly, then touched a finger to the teen's shoulder. "Reberū Chōsetsu no Jutsu!" he cried. Danny waved to his friends and sensei. "See you later, guys! Don't forget to write!" There were choruses of farewell, before the light swallowed Kuro up.

_Mom, Dad, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, I'll make you proud._

-

-

I partially made Danny lose some abilities so that he won't completely overpower the ninjas. That would totally defeat the purpose of the story, because it would just be BOOM, BANG, that's it, the bad guys are dead!

That wouldn't be a very good story, now would it? C'mon, tell the truth! You know it's true!

Translations

**_Personal theories or notable facts are in bold italics._**

Oi – hey

Sugoi - akin to "Awesome", "Great", "Wow", etc.

Hai – yes

Ja ne – equivalent to "see you later"

San – Mr., Ms., or Mrs. suffix

Kun – suffix mostly used for boys

Chan – suffix used mainly for girls and young children

Minna-san – everyone

Teme – akin to "jerk" or something of the like

Ojiisan – suffix meaning "grandfather". It might be taken as an insult

Yatta – akin to "Yes" "Alright" or "I/they/we did it!"

Shodai – First

Nidaime – Second

Sandaime –Third

Yondaime – Fourth

Kage – Shadow (ka-ge)

Bijū – The nine tailed beasts: powerful animal ghosts (spirits) with an enormous amount of chakra and awesome natural abilities. Though called 'yōkai' (demons) by the shinobi, in truth, they are not completely evil, suggesting that they are not truly demons; if they were, with their power they could've destroyed the whole dimension.

Gobi – five-tails

Kyūbi no Kitsune – The nine-tailed fox, the strongest of the biju. He's sealed inside Naruto.

Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, Romaji – Japanese writing and pronunciation

Genin, Chūnin, Jōnin – the ninja ranks, literally 'low ninja', 'middle/journeyman ninja', and 'high ninja'

Tokubetsu – Special (e.g. Tokubetsu Jōnin)

ANBU – the elite of all ninja: Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai: Special Assassination and Tactical Squad

Zori – Ninja sandals. Girls sometimes have high heels. (I have no idea how they still keep their balance.)

Ninjutsu – Ninja Techniques, used as defense or offence through the use of chakra and handseals (example: use of an earth wall to defend or a ball of fire to launch at an enemy)

Genjutsu – Illusion Techniques, they need a lot of chakra control and the right mindset, targeting the body's senses.

Taijutsu – Basic hand-to-hand fighting (On average, little or no chakra is needed)

Ijutsu – Medical Techniques (name says it all) they can be used to heal a comrade or the user himself if needed. It is possible to use some Ijutsu in combat, but great precision and control is needed. If this is accomplished, it turns into a deadly weapon. A skilled combat medic-nin is often more dangerous than a normal combat-nin unless his taijutsu is weaker than his opponent's.

Kieruhagakure – Village Hidden in the Faded Leaves (possibly rough translation)

Konohagakure – Village Hidden in the Leaves (or literally Tree Leaves)

Jinchūriki – translated literally, it means the power of human sacrifice. A jinchūriki is a human who has had one of the bijū sealed in him or her shortly after their birth. As they grow up, they take on some characteristics of the bijū (e.g. whisker marks like Naruto (fox-like) or dark rings around the eyes like Gaara (raccoon-like tanuki eye markings)) all depending on which one is sealed in them. They have enormous chakra reserves and can draw on the tailed beast's chakra when they need to. Many of these are looked down on, hated, or despised by most of the people in their village because they believe that the person is actually the bijū in human form instead of an actual human being. The word 'jinchūriki' is looked down on as an insult by the ones it refers to. If the jinchūriki dies, the tailed beast 'dies' as well. This fact leads to many attempts to kill the jailer of said tailed beast. Since they are created beings, however, the bijū will simply reform themselves and return to either the living world or the Ghost Zone.

Jutsu List

**Kawarimi no Jutsu – Replacement Technique**

User gets replaced by a nearby object, commonly a log or branch. It is used to avoid projectiles.

**Henge no Jutsu – Transformation technique**

User gets transformed into the object they are thinking of, provided that it is around the same size. It may be dispelled by another person if noticed.

**Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique**

User creates one or more illusionary clones of himself to confuse an enemy.

**Hiraishin no Jutsu – Flying Thunder God Technique**

A jutsu exclusive to the Yondaime, it's the one that earned him his nickname, Konoha no Kiiroi Senko, "The Leaf's Yellow Flash", and a flee on sight order from Konoha's enemy, Iwagakure. Through the use of seals and chakra, Minato can teleport to wherever he has planted a seal previously. In battles, he uses three-pronged marked kunai to get around unpredictably. When he does, the technique emits a yellow flash, hence the nickname.

**Reberū Chōsetsu no Jutsu – Plane Adjustment Technique** (an original technique; it may be a rough or incorrect translation)

Target gets transported to another plane of existence or dimension through the use of a complex ten-point written seal and 124 handseals. It must be performed with equal speed throughout, and the target must not step out of the seal or the he might lose a body part. There are often side effects from using this jutsu, including but not limited to the change of physical age, hair color, hair length, clothes color, height, and various other things, major or minor.


	3. Konoha ANBU

My minor OCs, Uchiha Takero, Maito Wakasa, Akimichi Chōma, and Inuzuka Kanaye can be used with my permission. Thanks people!

Translations are at the end. Everything non-canon is MINE!

-

His name was Danny

Through bloodline, he is Kuro

He lives for his friends

– Danny Fenton - Yamakaze Kuro: a Haiku by Shadow

-

Konoha ANBU

They shift within the shadows

Silent and deadly

– Konoha ANBU: a Haiku by Shadow

-

Konoha ANBU

Subtitled: It's the Race to Konoha! Seventy-five Mile Sprint!

**9:00-10:00 Sun-time**

In a green forest, several miles away from Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a flash of light disturbed the peace of a quiet clearing as a large amount of chakra spiked, causing several birds to fly off in fright. In that second, a light blue portal suddenly appeared several feet above the damp woodland ground, suddenly disappearing before any foreign material could be sucked into its swirling dimensional depths.

Black and light blue sandaled feet hit the ground, followed by a pair of steady hands that kept their owner's body from impacting with the hard, damp ground. The figure grunted slightly from the unexpected drop and consequential landing from that height. Almost as an afterthought, his dislodged knapsack fell from the spot that the portal had occupied previously and landed heavily on the young boy's head.

"Itai!" Kuro rubbed the bump on his head, wincing when he felt the soon-to-be goose-egg lump. "Couldn't Clockwork have warned me about that, too? Not like it will divert the stream of time toward some great catastrophe," he grumbled, annoyed. Rising from his crouch, he reached for his knapsack and rummaged through it swiftly, giving a quick inventory of his belongings.

"Sealing scrolls, blank scrolls, sealed gifts, clothes, bedroll, check. Extra kunai and shuriken, map, toothbrush, toothpaste, notebook, sketchpad, drawing materials, check. Lastly and most importantly, photo albums, souvenirs, and other important items from Amity and Kieruha, check and double check. Wait a second, what's this?"

He pulled out a note from between the pages of one of the albums. He read it curiously then looked himself over quickly, pulling a small mirror from his bag to get a better look. His emotions ranged from annoyed, to interested, to frustrated, to very mad.

-

Danny,

You are within seventy-five miles south of Konoha. If you go about thirty feet east, you will come to the path heading there (though I doubt you'll use it).

Just to inform you, the chakra spike from the jutsu will have by now alerted one or two ANBU units of three or four returning from missions, and they will be heading in your direction. If they see you, don't act suspicious and you'll be fine.

I hope you understand why we of Kieruha did not tell you about your family roots. If you had been told even just your ancestor's clan name, certain events would not occur and the balance of time would be disturbed, not to mention that certain other unwanted things would happen.

You already know that you are descended from Konoha through your grandmother on your father's side of the family, but you were not able to see her because she was on a long-term mission to Kazegakure here in the Ghost Zone Shinobi Nations.

The necklace you wear belonged to her, for she willed for you to inherit it. Take care that you always keep it close to you, for it is more than just an expensive trinket. Its color will always correspond to the wearer's elemental affinity, which, in your case, is water, but do not be alarmed if it changes. If you feel the stone start pulsing at any time, you must take leave from the Hokage immediately until you find the objective. I trust that I don't need to give any more details. You will find out what I mean when it happens.

If you're looking for a summoning contract, don't worry about it. Good things come to those that wait. I'm sure you'll find the perfect one, especially with jutsu like yours.

As you know, Gobi is still in deep slumber because of saving your life in your accident two years ago and he will not awaken for a few more years still. Within that time, keep training your water jutsu and the length and efficiency of your invisibility and intangibility use. While it's true that Gobi is the mildest and wisest of the Biju though not the highest in chakra levels, he will not tolerate a host who slacks in his work. When he wakes, enter your mindscape and speak to him (I'm hoping that you still remember how. Refer to a book if you need to). He will help you if you please him, and, as a side effect, this exercise will hopefully help with your nightmares as well.

Your laptop is still operational. The internet is the only thing that connects all the dimensions (besides the master dimension, your old one, through which they all connect through books, stories, and television shows). Therefore, you are still able to send E-mail. As long as you remember to seal your computer back into your element-proof scroll, you won't lose it. Expect periodic messages, presents, email, and snail mail from your friends here.

Remember, beware of Uchiha Madara and Orochimaru no Densetsu no Sannin. Those two have cheated death for far too long. Stay out of their hands but do what you can to foil and defeat them.

Stay focused on your missions, but don't forget to let loose some of the time. You don't want to get old and stiff like some of the wrinkled prune-like geezers that live in Kieruha. Don't even think about memorizing that certain two-word dictionary unless you want to become like the old Uchiha and Hyūga farts with huge tree trunks up their butts, ne? The branches grow out of their ears and vultures nest among them. That's not so comfortable-sounding, is it?

The letter you must give to the Sandaime Hokage is tied among your sealing scrolls. After you get to the gates, get it to him as soon as you can. It has your cover story in it, so don't worry about telling him yourself unless he asks you. Even then, make sure to stick to it. As long as your true origins stay fairly secret, you'll be fine. If you tell anyone, make sure that you can trust them with your life first.

You will know when you need to come back here to finish the job you started. Get stronger till then; you won't be the only one with new techniques and abilities.

Don't forget to burn or seal this letter. Keep training and reach your goals!

_Clockwork_

_Tokikage of the Old Elemental Nations_

_Master of Time_

P.S. If you haven't taken a look at yourself yet, you should. Don't get too mad! I warned you that time runs differently in the dimensions! (That means that five is your true age in this world, even if you were fourteen in your old world and 'fifteen' in Kieruha.) Don't worry about acting your age. You won't lose your skill level, but you'll feel the effects of age-changing sometime tomorrow.

Have fun!

P.P.S. Don't shout! Control your temper. Be calm. Breathe.

-

"Grrrrr… Clockwork!!!" Kuro yelled to the clouds, ignoring the last part. "I'm a little kid now, for crying out loud! FIVE?! Are you SERIOUS?!" He ripped of the bottom part of the letter, crumpled it up, and stomped it into the ground in frustration until it was unrecognizable as a piece of paper.

-

A few dimensions away, in a teahouse within Kieruha, the Tokikage sneezed. He grinned. "Looks like someone's talking about me. Ne, do you think it's Kuro-kun, Minato-san?"

The blond ninja opposite him grinned as he drank his tea and finished off their last dango stick in one gulp. "Hai. Who else would it be? Maybe you should've given him a better warning about the age change. He always was sensitive about his height."

The two laughed and asked the waiter for more of the colorful dumplings for their tea.

-

Through the Hokage's glass ball in Kieruha's Hokage tower, Danny's friends grinned as they watched him stamping on Clockwork's letter. "Do us Kieruha pranksters proud, Kuro! I'm sure you'll do just as good as usual even if you're a midget!" Uchiha Obito cackled manically. His older cousin Takero elbowed him in the ribs, exchanging glances and grins with Akimichi Chōma and Inuzuka Kanaye, who grinned back with the same amount of mischievousness.

"Don't be silly, of course he will! Most of our pranksters have bets on him 'decorating' the Hokage monument without getting caught. You should put your bet in, too. He basically promised to do it!" Kanaye's dog Aoimaru barked in agreement. Chōma just nodded, contentedly munching on a bag of potato chips and glaring when Obito stole a few.

"YOSH! Kuro-kun burns with the flames of YOUTH! He will spread the springtime of the youthfulness of Kieruha to the UNYOUTHFUL of Konoha!" Maito Wakasa yelled, light glinting off his teeth with an audible 'ping'.

Rin winced at that, slapped her forehead, and sighed, bonking both of the Uchihas and the Maito on the head with her fist as the Akimichi chuckled good-naturedly and the Inuzuka and his dog barked in laughter. "Bakas, of course he's doing it! Even sensei bet on him doing it, and he never loses a bet. Just keep watching. He'll do it sooner or later even if it means we have to wait for a few years. Maybe when he gets a bit taller." Looking at the scene again, one thing ran through her mind. "That's so kawaii!" she thought, giggling to herself.

-

When Kuro calmed down slightly, he took Clockwork's advice and breathed in and out slowly and deeply. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, a small, handheld one normally used to look around corners on dangerous ninja missions, he took a longer look at his new appearance, grimacing slightly at his new height, or rather his new low.

Danny had been short already as a fourteen-year-old, but now, as a six-year-old, he was really short. Strangely, he didn't feel awkward with this change of height. His arm and leg coordination was still good, not all over the place like he'd expected after reading the letter.

Now, he was a miniature version of his fourteen/fifteen-year-old self vs. his old five-year-old picture in his family's photo albums. Danny's true age was fifteen after training in Kieruha, but at the time of dimension hopping, he still had the body structure of an age fourteen boy. This was because while he was in that particular area of the Ghost Zone, almost no time had passed in his old dimension.

Somehow, his clothes shrank to fit his new frame, if not a tiny bit baggy around the edges. Kuro figured that it was just a quirk of dimension traveling and tried to brush off his annoyance, albeit quite unsuccessfully, though he was thankful that he wouldn't have to buy a whole new set of clothes again.

His outfit hadn't changed much over the course of the year. His jacket sleeves were longer now, but he folded them up to his elbows unless it was a chilly day; his pants were the same length as well, but he had taken a much greater liking to the light blue trim, taking more of that particular color onto them, particularly on the back of his jacket, where a sky-colored swirl was embroidered. His inside shirt also took a brighter shade of blue, but not enough for a 'certain' kunoichi to start lecturing him about being as noticeable as one particular spiky-haired orange-and-blue-wearing human traffic light.

Unlike a year ago, when he first started training, his hair no longer flopped into his face, getting in his way: he got it trimmed so that his spikes stood out more, some sloping softly down to shadow his face, the others just spiking downward on the sides and back of his head at different angles. Several small bangs hung over his forehead, slightly shadowing his blue eyes and framing his forehead and the top half of his face.

"Clockwork, you have no idea how annoyed I feel right now. Man, I should've known what he meant when he mentioned my fourteenth birthday as the day that the dimension timelines would align, not to mention that he didn't bother to say beforehand that ANBU know I'm here. A fifteen-year-old in a five-year-old's body, heh, that's definitely one for the science-fiction books," Kuro chuckled ruefully. "That means that by the time I'm fifteen again physically, my true age would be –" he stopped to think for a second, "twenty-five. I'll be an adult in a teen's body," he sighed. "What in Iwagakure did I do to deserve this?" he paused for a second to ponder on it. His face fell, his dark bangs shadowing his face. "I don't want to think about it…"

ANBU are the elite ninja of a hidden village: they are the Ansatsu Senjustu Tokushu Butai, translated as Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. They were the elite of the elite. And they were after him. True, with his abilities, unlike most unofficial ninjas, he could evade them with little difficulty, but he wanted them to underestimate him. He knew that they would first want to see if he was a friend or foe, then either stay or strike. He couldn't show them his full abilities for a few years, or they could think of him as a spy from another ninja village. It didn't matter if they had to think that he was a young, nearly helpless, five-year-old academy trainee. If they felt like it, they could kill him before he could blink.

His abilities weren't limitless, though. Like Minato-sensei said, the correction of Gobi's six-point seal altered his abilities drastically. He retained invisibility and intangibility, and, as a side effect, could still overshadow people, but he lost flight. His ghost sense (now known to be chakra sense) was still active, but it did not show externally, which was an added advantage as it would not alert an enemy to his awareness of their position. Kuro found that he could still use ecto-rays, (now chakra rays) but felt that he needed to perfect his chakra control before he could use them again with his own chakra instead of Gobi's.

When training with Minato and his temporary teammates, he found out that his chakra levels, even though they were higher than most kids his age, were easier to control than before his seal was altered. He actually had above-average chakra control, something unusual for jinchūriki considering they had more chakra than normal people. Being a jinchūriki usually made the container's chakra control passable at best, hopeless at worst.

Strangely, his chakra signature was barely detectable by anyone less than a high chunin or jonin-level ninja. If he masked his chakra to his greatest ability, only mid-jonin level ninja or higher-level shinobi could sense him. If he used invisibility, it would be down to ninja with good ears, nose, chakra-sensing or vibration-sensing for it to be possible. However, against Uchiha or Hyūga with active kekkei genkai he was vulnerable because of the Sharingan and Byakugan's ability to see chakra. If he used only intangibility, it was nearly impossible for anyone, ninja or not, to sense him unless they knew his position or he was in their sights, but his chakra was hidden completely. If he used both invisibility and intangibility, no one in the entire living shinobi world would be able to sense or see him unless they could figure out a way to circumvent both techniques at the same time.

On the other hand, Danny's own chakra-sensing abilities – due to his formerly visible ghost sense – were unparalleled by anyone of his skill level. While previously his senses had alerted him to most ghosts' chakra signatures through a visible exhale of breath, mostly now he just felt it as a tingling or shiver down his spine, but if his opponent was releasing killer intent towards him or someone nearby, he would feel it as a sharp prickling sensation down his neck. Besides those with civilian-level chakra reserves, none with chakra masking skill below high chunin or low jonin-level could escape him.

The presence of Gobi, the fifth greatest in chakra in the ranks of the biju, within the seal on Kuro's chest, increased his natural abilities (besides his stamina pre-seal-correction). Kuro possessed higher senses than a normal person even before the Ghost Portal incident. Before the accident, his ears, nose, and eyes functioned slightly above the normal, just enough to not be noticeable by him: after the accident and the events that lead to the altering of Gobi's seal, they were nearly as good as a dog's.

Kuro could hear dog whistles, something that was supposed to be impossible for humans. If he smelled food, sometimes he could almost immediately identify the primary ingredient, be it chicken, pork, beef, fish, fruit, vegetable, or mineral (in the case of French fries). His scenting abilities were lower than that of the Inuzuka clan of Konoha, though, so he didn't have the overpowering weakness of getting downed by a stink bomb in a spar or fight. His eyes were the biggest change. At nighttime, they would turn reflective like a cat's and would glow green when light bounced off of his irises, just like in his 'previous' ghost form, allowing him to see in the dark almost as well as he could in the light without needing to use Gobi's chakra. Because this happened naturally, he wasn't able to control this. It was one of the marks that showed him to be the container of the five-tailed beast, though it could pass as a dōjutsu: an eye technique.

Kuro snapped out of his thoughts and sealed his bag tightly. He'd have enough time to look at everything else when he got settled in a nice apartment in Konoha. He had a long way to go after all, so it would be best to hurry. He really didn't want to get stuck outside the gates at nightfall.

_Crack!_

He froze. Shouldering his knapsack quickly, he strained his ears to listen for the source of the sound. A bird or two rose from the bushes to his right side, but nothing else appeared. Relaxing a bit, Kuro jumped into the trees and started towards the path toward Konoha at an angle while continuously branch-hopping, still keeping his eyes and ears ready.

_I know I heard something. I must've taken too long thinking to not notice anything before. Seriously, I really need to work on that. Besides those birds, it's almost completely silent. It could've been an animal, but I'm not taking chances here, especially since Clockwork informed me about the ANBU. Of course they'd come to investigate a chakra spike of that magnitude. It's all in the line of duty, after all._ He launched himself into the treetops by directing his chakra to the soles of his feet, starting to travel through the higher branches of the canopy.

_Quiet means either peace or danger. In a forest, it is more likely to be danger. Dead silence almost always means that a hunter, thug, or shinobi is nearby or hiding. I'm so glad that I remember Obito's survival lessons, because right now it's quiet. Too quiet. Only the wind is making any noise. I sure hope that whatever I heard was friendly. I just hope it's not the random thug or enemy ninja. Even with my abilities, I don't know if I can take down anyone who's faster than me. I need to get used to the reach of this shorter body, even if I already can move normally with it. Troublesome._

_The ninja factor is the worst, though. Since it seems to have rained recently, the trees and ground are still holding in the moisture. My sense of smell won't be working as well, 'cause I'll only be able to scent the water vapors in the air. I might not be able to notice someone following me unless they made noise like that snap. True, I still have my chakra sense, but if it's a high-level shinobi behind me, they can get around that easily. ANBU are definitely high-leveled._

Suddenly, Kuro came up with an idea. Stopping on a particularly wide branch and turning his back to the place he estimated that the snap came from, he reached into his knapsack with both hands and pretended to search for something. Making a quick handseal inside the bag instead, his index and middle fingers formed a cross seal quickly before changing at the last second into a ram seal as he channeled his chakra. A quiet 'poof' was heard and Kuro winced slightly. He turned his head a bit and glanced to the side. Next to him on the branch was an invisible duplication of himself.

This was one of Kieruha's techniques, Mienai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the invisible shadow clone technique: a variation on the original Kage Bunshin, exclusive only to residents of the Ghost Zone Shinobi Nations and Danny. Though it was, by name, an invisible clone, to the user of the technique it was actually visible against the background in the form of an outline. This technique created a permanently invisible – not an illusion – temporary clone (duplication) of the user, hence the name, letting the user look for information safely and unseen. It distributed the user's chakra and strength evenly through all of the clones, meaning that the more he made, the weaker one clone would be. They were capable of independent thought, unlike the rough version of sealless duplication that was used by Vlad and him (though it didn't hinder the latter since he was a full-ghost), making them easier to use.

The chakra drain was too high for normal people, but Kuro and the residents of the Ghost Zone Elemental Nations were definitely not what you would call normal.

Vlad Masters, Danny's former arch-enemy, became a half-ghost in the proto-portal accident because of extreme contact with the Ghost Zone's spirit chakra, which altered and stimulated his own chakra structure enough for it to be usable by him even after the age of chakra 'puberty' was past. He could do several versions of the clone technique because of this and the many years he spent researching and experimenting with his abilities. Unlike in the true jutsu, his clones had no independent thoughts or actions from him, causing him to have to control all of them himself. However, whenever he used more than five clones at a time, his body would slowly deteriorate and would age faster, taking years away from his lifespan.

Because of his poor chakra control and lack of knowledge of handseals, though he knew nothing of it, he strained his body further still. His constant use of duplication cost him, causing his hair to stay permanently gray and white when it could've grown out, even after his own Ghost Portal accident.

Danny became a half-ghost because of Gobi's attempts at keeping him alive through getting electrocuted by the electric force expelled by the Ghost Portal. Gobi had forced as much of his chakra through the seal as he could without killing either him or Kuro. His chakra had circulated rapidly though his body, healing him as fast as damage was taken.

His chakra had worked together with the bijū's, fusing the spirit element of the animal spirit's chakra with his own and disrupting the seal, giving him some of Gobi's abilities.

When the fūinjutsu was corrected by Minato, it caused most of the 'excess' chakra, (Gobi's) besides the amount that had fused with his own, to flow back into it, making Danny lose some abilities but enhancing his natural abilities and senses, including the five senses and his stamina, speed, and strength, which had been lacking in him previously, save when he was using the bijū's chakra.

Danny's chakra control was way better than his older rival's, but because of his seal going out of whack, he had only been able to produce mutated things through attempting duplication, an exception being the fight against the Ghost King, Pariah Dark, through the use of his parent's ability-amplifying suit. He unknowingly saved himself from Vlad's fate by not trying himself to exhaustion on that technique and using it sparingly when he succeeded.

_Man, I'm so glad that I told the old man to stop abusing duplication so much in my letter. Here's to hoping he follows it. He would've looked like an even worse prune than the other version of him in that…_ here his thoughts trailed off. Silently, he nodded to the outline of his bunshin. The clone saluted and left to search for his would-be trackers.

Danny sighed and began leaping through the leafy forest once again. His zori sandals thumped against random branches and trunks as he passed through several penetrating rays of light from the forest canopy. He looked up to the sky through the leaves while jumping, hurtling forward at a length and speed that an Olympic medalist would be jealous of. Flipping up over a slender sapling lower down, he used its flexible wood to help catapult him up to the highest branches. He scanned the treetops and woodland and noticed its contrast to the wide expanse of blue horizon.

Reaching the path that led to Konoha after a few minutes, he didn't bother to use it. Instead, he preferred to keep on in the trees. A few miles on, a light sweat broke on Kuro's face and body. Still running, he pulled out his canteen and took a gulp from it, slinging it over his shoulder by its strap, keeping on with a diminished pace. As the rhythm slowed, Kuro took some time to look at the forest scenery.

_This place is so beautiful,_ he thought while passing a herd of gentle white-tailed deer. He took in the sunlight that danced across a woodland clearing, brightly-colored toadstools adorning the earth like so many living jewels. Several strange and exotic plants grew on the ground, dotting the landscape with vibrant color from their blossoms. Once again, Kuro looked toward the clear blue expanse above. _Sora,_ he thought. _Sky._

A bird in flight circling above, a hawk, caught the young boy's attention. Swishing underneath through the trees, he fixed his eyes on it as it flew, unbound by earthly gravity. Every feather tuned to the wind, shifting to let it take him where it would go, ignorant of the thoughts of those below it. Free he was, held back by none, a creature of the storm.

_Even I never could fly like a bird, let alone a falcon or hawk. I was never as free as that, letting the skies bring me where they would, following the wind's direction. Now, I'm bound to the earth, bound by my past, my fears, and overall, my failures._

_No matter how long it might take, I will have to learn to fly again. This time I will be free!_

Swiftly turning his left foot and shifting the other slightly backwards on the next branch, he launched himself further into the forest, streaking through branch and leaf alike, occasionally turning intangible to avoid an obstacle; shining crystalline drops of water fell to the forest floor behind him.

-

**12:30-1:30 Sun-time**

After many hours of endless tree-hopping fueled by his now near-endless stamina and a slight adrenaline rush, Kuro finally received information from his dispelled clone. Rubbing the sides of his head because of the new information in his brain, he sorted carefully through his clone's memories.

"Okay, so there's one patrol composed of three ANBU following me, as Clockwork said," he muttered under his breath. "They have the masks of dog, crow, and weasel, the first being their taichō. None of them noticed my clone directly, but dog and weasel seemed to be able feel my chakra signature faintly even if it was masked to my best abilities. This might be because they're really skillful or just felt it by chance. Hey, they are supposed to be the elite of the elite, so I'd be worried if they didn't sense me even a little. One of the ANBU seems a bit suspicious, but the others are somewhat neutral. If my memories are right, though, they don't think I'm a threat. They've stayed a constant distance of about… ten meters?! They're closer than I thought they were! Maybe Obito was right. I have been slacking a bit on using my nose to calculate distance.

"Anyway, I need to take a breather. Stay casual, Kuro. Note to self, never leave a clone out continuously for more than one or two hours unless you want a headache," he groaned.

He slowed down considerably and jumped to the forest understory, landing in a crouch on the wet earth. Straightening and slowing to a walk, he began to search for a source of water to refill his canteen from. Sniffing the air deeply and feeling the moistness of the forest loam beneath his sandaled feet, he grinned and picked a direction slightly to the northwest, literally following his nose to a coursing spring of water a few meters away. He bent down and touched the slow-flowing water with his fingertips. As he pulled away, sparkling drops dripped back to earth like many glass shards, glistening brightly against fuzzy green moss and soft black soil. He licked a drop off one of his fingers, frowned, and dipped a cupped hand through the streaming, clear surface, taking a quick sip. After a few minutes, Kuro decided that the water from the spring was clean and started filling his canteen.

Screwing the cap back on, he sat on a carpet of moss with his back to a tree. With his right hand, he took a small leaf from the ground and held it in his palm. Reaching into his knapsack with his other hand, he pulled out a book: Facts about the Nine Bijū for Dummies.

With the leaf, he started to do a chakra control exercise which involved using his chakra to float a small object in the air above his hand. If he put too much chakra into it, it would spin out of control and fly out of the bounds of chakra. If too little was used, the object wouldn't float at all. The heavier the object was, the less chakra control needed to succeed.

His control was nearly perfect, but he had yet to accomplish it with a leaf on his right hand. So Kuro sat there, somehow multitasking. It was a feat worthy of praise in a guy, really, even if he had already memorized the book. It was just fun reading it over again.

-

Three shadowed figures crouched in the branches of a tree nearby a shallow stream ten meters away from their objective's position. Three lithe figures wearing the standard bone-white armor of their station waited silently for their 'prey' to make a move, which would allow them to follow after him and stretch their muscles. Three pairs of eyes watched as their target moved and reached into his knapsack.

Muscles tensed then relaxed, hands warily straying toward weapon pouches on an ingrained instinct. These were all elite, true assassins, true shinobi. In the time it took to blink, their target could be dead just on the reflex of the experienced ninja. It was necessary. In their line of duty, every precaution was to be taken.

Three white porcelain masks glinted with drops of water that had started to fall from the tree onto each shinobi's head. Each mask was carved into the likeness of a snarling animal head, each one painted sparingly in startling colors to both encourage an ally and intimidate an enemy. They came thus: Dog, Crow, and Weasel. Inu, Karasu, and Itachi.

The weasel-masked ANBU was the shortest of the group, barely clearing five feet. His raven black hair was tied into a ponytail that trailed partway down his back. He was the most silent of the squad, standing deathly still on a thin branch: if it weren't for his dark hair waving in the slight breeze, he could've passed as a feral, dangerous-looking marble statue. Though young, he was nevertheless an experienced veteran in the world of ninja; he was respected and feared in many circles and sought after by several secret groups. He was mysterious… deadly so.

_The itachi… sly, clever, and fierce: the weasel_

The crow-masked ninja was the tallest, standing at five-foot nine inches. Crouched between the other two of his team with his head resting on a higher branch, he seemed to be the most laid-back of the three. His dark, night-black hair spiked up above his mask, giving him a jaunty look. He was the newest member of the squad, having just been accepted into ANBU ranks one week ago. Every now and then, he would sigh in annoyance and glare pointedly at one of his teammates. Once, he even tried to prop his feet up on another branch in front of him. When it creaked slightly, both the weasel-masked and dog-masked ANBU swiftly turned and sent small waves of killing intent at him, causing him to gulp and slowly go back to his original position. He had been the one who snapped the dead branch earlier, putting their young target on alert. However, some of this was an act: a second mask. The mark of a true genjutsu user, a master of disguise.

_The karasu… master of illusions and deception: the crow_

The dog-masked shinobi, though slightly shorter than Crow, held a commanding presence over his comrades that suggested his leadership over them. His gravity-defying silver hair, almost undisturbed by the wind, waved slightly over his snarling animal mask in silvery spikes. Everything about him from his stance and position on the tree to the relaxedness of his muscles and the cool, collected aura emanating from him spoke of his prowess in the field. As the taichō, he had the most perfect balance of awareness and ability out of all of the ninja of his unit. Though he wasn't as tense as his weasel-masked counterpart, he had more awareness of his surroundings than the extremely relaxed and laid-back Crow. His senses were sharp: his eyes bored holes into the objects they viewed; his nose scented the breeze and deciphered the messages it carried with the uncanny skill of a tracker; the hearing in both of his ears was honed to the sharpness of the ninjato of tempered steel that the skilled shinobi carried on his back. Not one muscle was tensed more or less than it should be.

_The inu… from his ancestor, the wolf, he inherited speed, skill, and cunning: the dog_

The whole unit was hidden in the leaves. From a random passerby's point of view, the tree that they hunted from looked just as normal as the ones surrounding it. Only if you were a ninja, and a great one at that, would you think otherwise. No genjutsu was used; it was pure stealth, natural camouflage, and disguise. Such was the skill of the ANBU.

_Ansatsu Senjustu Tokushu Butai… the elite of all elite ninja; they live in the shadows and hide in plain sight: Special Assassination and Tactical Squad_

This particular squad had been returning from a mission to Iwagakure, one of the most dangerous places for a Konoha ninja to be seen. Their mission commands were to dispatch a rich lord there. He had been closely guarded by ninja, samurai, and the occasional nukenin or mercenary, but it was all in vain. ANBU team 32 had yet to fail a mission. On their way back to Konoha, they sensed the chakra spike from Kuro's dimensional jutsu. As taichō of the unit, the inu-masked leader had chosen for his team to investigate it for the safety of the village.

This brought them to where they were now; observing a child's movements for the sake of suspicion. That's what the karasu-masked genjutsu user thought, anyway. He really didn't see the point in watching every move of someone who was too young and unskilled to be of any danger to anyone, let alone a ninja of his team's caliber. Sighing once again, he voiced his complaints to his captain.

"Inu-taichō, I really don't see why we have to follow him. He looks only just old enough to go to the academy, let alone be anything more than genin-level. He bears no hitai-ate, so he can't be a ninja yet, if at all. He's just a little kid. He doesn't look a day older than your otōto, Itachi-kun." The weasel-masked figure ignored him.

Inu turned toward him slightly. "Karasu-san, you felt that chakra spike as well. He was the only individual within one mile of its origin. Even you can see that he has had ninja training; he moves at chūnin-level speed, something unusual for someone so young." A silent continuation lay on the statement: except for me and Itachi-san… "We cannot determine his skill level by just this, just like you cannot determine skill by age. Some ninja are younger than you yet stronger than me. Until we know he is not a threat to the village, we will follow him.

Karasu tried to flick Inu on the shoulder but missed as he changed positions. "I still say that it's a waste of time."

"That's why you're not taichō, Karasu-san."

"Hn," the itachi-masked figure grunted in agreement.

Karasu turned to him. "Just because I just made ANBU a week ago doesn't mean that I can't make captain someday, senpai. Not everyone gets a nomination for ANBU captain at thirteen. You're supposed to take Inu-taichō's place once he retires from ANBU," he said, pointing at the dog-masked captain. "Please say that you didn't forget."

"Hn."

The raven-haired ninja threw up his hands in exasperation. "Can't you say anything else?!"

_"Aa."_ Weasel smirked at him from behind his mask.

"That's not what I mean, O great Uchiha-_sama_!"

"Hn."

The ANBU squad stood in silence for some minutes, only broken by Crow tapping his fingers impatiently on the branches and trunk of the tree.

"Itoko, you're impossible, you know that?"

"Hn."

"Alright, I give up! Not only are you impossible, you're illiterate as well, just like the rest of our clan and the Hyūga temes!"

Weasel death-glared at his cousin and sent subtle waves of killing intent at him. Crow ignored him, choosing instead to start picking his fingernails with a kunai from his weapons pouch. Dog ignored his subordinates' actions, being more interested with looking at the sky: his attention was especially focused on a particular flying creature: a hawk. It circled almost directly above the ANBU's positions, screeching loudly on occasion. To him, it was no ordinary bird of prey; it was a messenger hawk from the village. He turned slightly to Weasel, inclining his head toward the bird. The itachi-masked figure nodded in acknowledgement and pulled a roll of bandages from his equipment. Bandaging his right forearm thickly, he raised it up rapidly to signal the messenger down.

The raptor shrieked to the skies, diving down rapidly, wings outspread. It landed solidly on Weasel's protected arm, talons digging in deeply, ruffling its dark feathers and stretching its barred wings to their full wingspan. With his unoccupied arm, the ninja pulled out a scroll and unsealed several dead mice for the messenger. As it stuffed itself on its prey, he slid a small piece of parchment from a small tube attached to its leg. Reading it quickly, he turned to his taichō and handed the message to him. Dog scanned it, nodding in confirmation to his subordinates.

"It looks like you'll get your wish, Shisui-san. Your abilities and mine are needed for a recon mission in Kumo with Squad 34. Once we get back to Konoha, we will have a five hour respite period before we get deployed again. Itachi-san," the inu-masked ninja turned to Weasel to get his command across, "you will keep following the traveler. Report back to Hokage-sama as soon as you can."

"Hn," Itachi grunted in annoyance.

"Yessss!" the crow-masked Shisui crowed exultantly. His superiors glared at him. He gulped. "Heh, I guess we should be going now, ne, Kakashi-taichō? Ja ne, Itachi-kun!" the shinobi made a left-handed handseal, blurring into invisibility with the masterful use of genjutsu that gave him his nickname, Shunshin no Shisui. The dog-masked ninja sighed. "I should follow him before he causes trouble. Sometimes I can't believe that he's from the same clan as you, let alone be your best friend. Ja ne, Itachi." He made a one-handed seal and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

The hawk on Itachi's arm squawked in response to this, gulping down the remains of its meal. Puffing its chest feathers out, it pushed off of its living, weasel-masked perch and once again took flight above the trees, screeching its thanks as it glided upwards into the sky. Itachi watched it go, an emotionless look on his masked face that didn't betray any of his inner feelings.

_If we Uchiha truly descended from the Hyūga, then we are not as different from them as we like to think. I am like one of the Hyūga of the Branch house, a caged bird entangled within my clan's wiles. One day, I will cut what binds me to them, and I will be free from the madness that surrounds my cursed bloodline. Until then, I will continue to perform my missions flawlessly to please Otō-sama._

_Sasuke, otōto, I hope you do not follow in our clan's footsteps. Little brother, you will not live in our clan's foolish ideals like I have. You will have the life that I never had. I'll make sure of it. You will not become tainted by the Uchiha clan's lies and treachery._

Itachi removed his mask, showing a face that could be no older than thirteen years old. Uncharacteristic of his age, two lines between his nose and both eyes showed the stress of the great responsibility and sleepless nights that were laid on him at a too-early age. His dark hair hung in front of his face, blowing softly in the wind. The young ANBU's eyes onyx black eyes closed for a second then snapped open with frightening ferocity.

_Shing!_

Two red eyes with three black tomoe circling around the pupil of each eye blazed, unobscured by the teen's covering bangs. They seemed to glow in the shadows of the woodland, swirling slowly, two hypnotizing red pools in the darkness. Two red orbs of piercing totality, razor sharp and deadly. _Sharingan!_

"I'll make sure of it, no matter what it takes. If Hokage-sama agrees to the plan, I will go through with it, for your sake and the good of Konoha."

-

Kuro yawned as he stood up and stretched to his new full 'height' of three feet and five inches as he closed the book, dropping the leaf with which he had finally completed the exercise. He squinted at the sun, attempting to calculate the time. The sun was at its height and slowly starting to drop from its zenith in the sky. Man, I really want to get to Konoha before nightfall. It's less troublesome that way. Well, I guess I'd better get a move on. I'm less than seven miles away from the gates, so I might get there before they close for the night. Hopefully.

He once again shouldered his trusty knapsack and took to the rainwater- filled trees. "Konoha, you'd better watch out. I'm coming, and I'm gonna be one of the greatest ninja you've ever seen!"

Taking off into the forest, he didn't notice the two pairs of eyes that watched him. They were there, watching, spying on him: twin silent shadows. Behind the rocks and tree trunks on the ground, several knives were unsheathed by them. They glared venomously at the boy's back while stealthily following him from below on their element, earth. The ANBU Weasel's piercing red black-tomoed eyes narrowed at them, glaring from within the tree cover as he did likewise, shuriken held between his fingers as his other hand clenched into a fist. Iwa…

As Kuro turned northward and left the clearing, he didn't notice when multiple kunai were suddenly and decisively launched toward him.

The most he heard was the whistle of honed metal through the air. He turned slightly mid-leap in the humid air, eyes widening when his chakra sense was set off.

By then, it was too late.

_Swisshhh…_ thunk!

Clang! …_splish_

_Drip… drip…_

_Splash…_

-

-

-

Sorry, I really wanted to leave this chapter on a cliffhanger!

There's not a lot of Konoha in this chapter, but there's just enough of ANBU to override that. Not much to say, but I really had fun with the ANBU squad's conversation and character.

_In case you were confused_… Danny's physical age pre-dimension travel was fourteen. His spirit age (true age) is now fifteen. Post-dimension travel, he got turned into a five-year-old physically, but his age was still fifteen. If you add it all up, by the time his body is fifteen physically, his true age will be twenty-five.

…_or even more confused_… He turned half-ghost because Gobi is an animal spirit (ghost). When he got electrocuted by the Ghost Portal, Gobi saved his life by healing him with his chakra from the inside. Danny's chakra started to work together with the beast's, causing their intertwined chakra to fuse together some. This gave Danny some of Gobi's powers, but the accident kept the excess chakra from flowing back into the seal. When the Yondaime fixed it, the unused portion of Gobi's chakra receded back to its source, making Danny lose some but not all of his powers and gain better natural senses.

_Still confused now?_ Vlad became a half ghost because the spiritual and physical energy (chakra) of the Ghost Zone altered his chakra coils and partially fused with his chakra, but not to the same extent as Danny's was. He is able to use chakra because his accident stimulated his chakra system so that he would be able to even if he had already passed the age of chakra 'puberty' (the age limit at which you are no longer able to use chakra unless you have exercised it actively previously). Now do you get it? Phew, that was a mouthful. Ignore the overuse of the word 'chakra', please.

Character pairings! (No Fem!Haku or yaoi, yuri, or harem!)

Kuro x OC

Kuro x Temari

Kuro x Sakura

Kuro x Ino

Kuro x Valerie (I can't do this pairing to save my life, but I can try.)

Naruto x Hinata

Naruto x Sakura

Translations

Yamakaze – mountain wind

Kuro – black (noun)

Itai – ouch!

Kunai – throwing knives

Shuriken – throwing knives, usually shaped like four-pointed stars

Gobi– five tails

Orochimaru no Densetsu no Sannin – Orochimaru of the Legendary Three

Uchiha, Hyūga – two of the major clans of Konoha: the Uchiha are sometimes said to be descended from the Hyūga. Both are stuck-up and power-hungry in one way or another, aside from rare few members of either clan.

Dango – colorful dumplings that are usually eaten with tea. They are presented on skewers (like kebabs).

Hai – yes

Baka – idiot

Kawaii – cute

Iwagakure/Iwa – Hidden Rock, a village hostile to Konoha

Bunshin – clone, duplication

Fūinjutsu – Sealing Techniques, used in anything from storing items and creating barriers to making an object explode or suppressing energy. As the more advanced of these techniques are extremely complicated, complex, and difficult to create, there are very few seal masters. The two currently known ones are Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage, and his sensei, Jiraiya no Densetsu no Sannin (Jiraiya of the Legendary Three)

Sensei – teacher

Sora – sky

Bijū – the nine tailed beasts

Inu, karasu, itachi – dog, crow, weasel

Taichō – captain

Itoko – cousin

Shunshin no Shisui – Shisui of the Body Flicker, the name earned by Uchiha Shisui for his mastery of genjutsu.

Otō-sama/ Otō-san – father

Otōto – little brother

Jutsu List

**_Personal theories or notable facts are in bold italics._**

**Reberū Chōsetsu no Jutsu – Plane Adjustment Technique** (my original technique, may be a rough or completely incorrect translation) (Pre-chapter usage)

Target gets transported to another plane of existence or dimension through the use of a complex ten-point written seal and 124 handseals. It must be performed with equal speed throughout, and the target must not step out of the seal or the he might lose a body part. There are often side effects from using this jutsu, including but not limited to the change of physical age, hair color, hair length, clothes color, height, and various other things, major or minor.

**Mienai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Invisible Shadow Clone Technique** (an original technique by me)

Exclusive to those who know the technique and have been infused with the Ghost Zone's chakra (or have died), this jutsu creates one or more invisible clones of the user. Unlike the Bunshin no Jutsu, these clones are solid, making them useful in combat and espionage. However, they aren't extremely durable. Like the normal Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, one hard punch or kick can dispel them, causing them to poof out in a puff of smoke. They have independent thought from the user, making it easier to use than Vlad-style duplication. Once dispelled, all information that the clone has learned gets transferred to the user. The invisible clone cannot turn visible, nor can it use intangibility.

**Shunshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Technique**

The body flicker is a short-distance 'teleportation' technique. Some people believe that it is an advanced version of Kawarimi no Jutsu, the Replacement Technique, that replaces the user with leaves from a tree or some other small material item. Normally used outside battle because it may give off a chakra spike, alerting the enemy to your position; it also takes more than a second to perform it, the time in which a shinobi can throw a kunai or shuriken while the user is concentrating on the jutsu. While the technique is in use, the user moves so fast that it seems as if he is teleporting. Through usage, he disappears in a poof of smoke or a swirl of leaves. This is sometimes personalized by a unique user (e.g. using sand or flower petals).

Kekkei Genkai List – Bloodline Limits

These are abilities exclusive to the family or clan of the user. They are passed down through the blood in the form of dōjutsu (eye techniques) or element altering techniques like the Hyōton bloodline (Ice Release).

**Sharingan – Copy Wheel Eyes**

The Uchiha clan dōjutsu, the Sharingan, is what made them one of the great clans of Konoha. It allows them to copy and memorize ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu as well as predict their opponent's moves before they even make a step, cast genjutsu through eye contact, and erase memories. The Sharingan activates – usually in preteens – through the user's heightened emotions such as fear. Once activated, the user can turn the dōjutsu on and off at will.

When the Sharingan is active, the user's eyes turn red with one to three tomoe (commas) circling around the pupil of each eye. There are three levels for the copy wheel eyes; the number of tomoe in the user's eye corresponds with the level. The higher the level, the better and more advanced its abilities are.

The ninja has a greater chance of achieving a mature three-tomoe Sharingan as he gets more experienced in the field, also lessening the chakra drain caused by the dōjutsu as he continues to train with it. Uchiha Itachi achieved Sharingan mastery at age eight, the youngest yet, becoming the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Because of the Sharingan's ability to copy and remember jutsu, all Uchiha are considered geniuses once they have achieved it. If one never activates his or her Sharingan, he is sometimes regarded as shameful to the clan. This caused the entire clan to become corrupt with pride.


	4. Lifeblood

Sorry about the delay. The details will not be explained as they are extremely long-winded. Changing the name of the main character… well, it's been done before. I really can't call it an original idea. Please bear with me on this. I'm nowhere _near_ being a medical specialist.

--

Metallic crimson

It is life and it is death

The red stain of blood

–Lifeblood

--

Lifeblood

Subtitled: Kuro's First Enemy Ninja Encounter! First Blood and First Aid!

**2:00-2:30 Sun-time**

_Drip… drip…_

…_splash_

Kuro's eyes widened.

His controlled, chakra-enhanced balance on the tree faltered. His right hand gripped his left shoulder tightly.

It hit him like a bolt from the sky. The sensation that causes unrestrained fear in the hearts of the weak-minded.

It was _pain_. Pure mind-altering _pain_.

_Drip… drip_

…_drop_

He pulled his hand away. It was sticky with blood.

He recoiled in shock at a sudden realization as his gaze darted to the center of the burning feeling.

He'd been hit. _Twice!_

_Drip… drip…_

…_splash_

He gritted his teeth against the sudden sharp pain caused by the dual kunai wounds as nerves continued sending signals to his brain, exhaling sharply when he felt the warm liquid running down his forearm and the back of his hand.

_Don't panic, don't panic! Your heart rate will increase and you'll bleed to death!_

Kuro forced himself to breathe in and out steadily as calmly as he could to slow down his racing heartbeat, instinctively snapping into situation evaluation mode. After putting more pressure on his wounds, he spread out his senses to the limit.

Because of the tree cover, the recent rain, and the still-pungent scent of ozone in the air, he couldn't see or smell anyone yet. However, this did not hinder his hearing.

A green leaf crunched under a heavy weight. The wind suddenly shifted to his aid; he caught a whiff of scent on the breeze.

_Earth._

His fists tightened involuntarily at the new information. He lowered his head and clenched his teeth as a new wave of pain swept over him, relaxing his injured left arm quickly.

Several thoughts raced through his brain.

_If I didn't accidentally smell the forest instead, the two guys behind the bushes _reek_ strongly of earth. That would mean… Iwa! No wait, they would never be dumb enough to send just two ninja into enemy country… they gotta be nukenin or bandits if anything at all. Still, that fact doesn't matter. Those guys took me by complete surprise, and for whatever reason, they're _attacking_ me!_

_The Konoha ANBU are an unknown factor. They made no move to stop or capture the ninja or help me for that matter. Then again, I'm an unknown factor to them too._

_Yeah guys, I know. Looks like I'm by myself again._

His hand twitched slightly as he held up against a new onslaught. Breathing outward steadily against the pain, he shifted his left foot backwards into a subtle "ready" stance, an almost unnoticeable shift in weight in his slight frame.

_This injury is potentially a life-threatening in this body. Since the five-tailed furball is still snoring, he can't heal me fast enough to stop me from bleeding into unconsciousness. My best option is to hope those guys don't catch me, treat my wounds as soon as possible, and last but not least–_

His eyes darted backward to where one of his followers was hiding; in that instant, his sky-blue gaze made split-second contact with two unpleasantly glinting brown orbs.

–_RUN!_

He took off like a shot.

-

Daishi Makaze was a ninja. No, not just any ninja, he had been one of the Tsuchikage's _tokubetsu _chūnin. Not that it was anything to brag about since the lazy old man would only set him to do paperwork for him, but never mind about that.

One day, when he _finally_ got a break from the old geezer, he and his former teammates and sensei went on a B-ranked mission straight smack dab in the middle of Kaze no Kuni. The _desert_ of Kaze no Kuni. In other words, the middle of nowhere. After failing to complete the mission, he and his former teammate, fellow "tokubetsu" chūnin Kyūdo Tanku, came up with an absolutely _brilliant_ idea. Why not ditch Iwa for a while and call it a holiday?

As you might predict, the idea backfired horribly when put into action. Not only did their third teammate hear of their plans, but he also told their former sensei about it. This ensued in a fight between Makaze and Tanku against their former teammate and sensei. The fight ended with the former two victorious.

This was because of the unpredictable chance that a certain species of lethally poisonous snake was hiding under the desert sand. The two traitors' former jōnin sensei happened to step on its tail while preparing for a jutsu. Obviously, the snake became furious and struck, biting him in the leg. Needless to say, the duo was easily able to dispatch their former teammate after this. The two ninja-turned-nukenin then ran off to Kusagakure to recuperate from the battle.

Makaze, who had by now assumed the leadership of the two, then came up with another _brilliant_ idea. Why not do some grand deeds in the name of Iwa to entice the Tsuchikage and the Rock council into accepting them back into their ranks? Tanku agreed to a bit of adventure. However, another thing went wrong. The two ninja did _not_ expect Iwa's ANBU hunter-nin to be deployed against them so soon. Nevertheless, the missing-ninja were chased through Kusa and the surrounding country.

There was a crowd gathered that day for the market. Many people got in the way of the chase, causing the escaping shinobi to use any means possible to get through them. One man refused to move. He called the ANBU to detain Makaze and Tanku. To silence him, Makaze stabbed one of his poisoned kunai into the civilian's back. The man turned out to be the brother of the Kusa daimyō.

After narrowly escaping the hunter-ninja, the nukenin traveled to Amegakure. They were then hired by residents of the nearby countryside to assassinate the Ame daimyō's son. They tried and failed horribly when the daimyō's ferocious guard dogs nearly caught them and sounded the alarm.

Post-disaster, they started to form one last-ditch partially foolproof attempt to get back to Iwa with no hostility. They would kill shinobi of Konohagakure as compensation for their "holiday".

So here they were, taking on defenseless travelers and civilians of Hi no Kuni to try passing them off as low-rank ninja. They had killed four already; they needed just one more. That's when one certain black-haired wannabe ninja gaki had crossed their path.

The two ninja – both wearing slashed Iwa hitai-ate – shared twin smirks in the bushes below, silently congratulating themselves on a plan _finally_ executed properly. They wore matching pants, shirts, hooded cloaks that shadowed their faces from visibility, and coarse, thin cloth masks that covered the bottom half of their faces. Their dark brown _zori_ sandals were slightly worn, suggesting that they had been out in the wilderness for a while. The one who had thrown the kunai stood a head taller than his fellow nukenin. He looked to be the leader of the two.

"Today's our lucky day! After this, Iwa will definitely accept us back," the shorter one said under his breath excitedly. "The only thing we're doing is keeping travelers from leaving and entering Konoha and bringing their remains back for proof of loyalty, but Iwa doesn't need to know that. It's just easy. Great plan, Makaze. We just need to steal a few hitai-ate from Konoha's tree-huggers and make the corpses look like shinobi to ensure our successful return to Rock."

The taller nukenin agreed with his accomplice, displaying a sealing scroll with five storage seals on it. "Hai. We're both C-class chūnin-ranked ninja. There's no way that Iwa would refuse us _this_ time. Now we just need to wait for this wet-behind-the-ears ninja gaki to succumb to my special poison. He can pass for a genin at least. We'll stock inventory on the way back, then –"

He was cut off when Kuro's eyes flashed to his position. He recoiled in surprise.

"He's spotted us!"

Breaking eye contact with the taller man, Kuro shot upwards and pushed off of a higher branch to the next tree.

Makaze elbowed his friend in the ribs and motioned for him to take the opposite side of the chase. Nodding, Tanku separated from him; the two ninja pursued their prey, both as silent and fast as a pair of tigers on the hunt.

That wannabe ninja gaki wouldn't have a chance in Kiri of escaping from them.

-

Snapping into survival mode, Kuro sprinted through the trees faster than before, continually keeping pressure on his wounds.

_I need time! A distraction at least! What was Obito's saying again? "Distance plus time equals the chance that you have of staying alive." Riiight, that was morbid. Even _fiveminutes_ would be enough to get a decent lock on my condition. Gah, I don't know the full extent of my injuries, so until I know that information I need to use as little energy as possible _(sigh)_._

He made a few swift calculations at that conclusion, grumbling mentally at the result.

_That means invisibility and intangibility use in short stretches! I can't just use invisibility to wait for those guys to give up. That would be a waste of time and energy. Since I really don't know the limits of this body yet, that option is entirely out of the equation._

_Man, I'd do almost _anything_ right now to be in my fifteen-year-old body. Blood loss was never an extreme problem then. An age change was _totally_ what I needed. Thanks for the brilliant idea, Clockwork. It was just _perfect_, Tokikage-__ojisan__._ He thought sarcastically.

_On the bright side, I can still use handseals. They have to be quick though. I gotta keep the pressure on._

Landing on another branch, he ducked when he heard the whistle of steel in the air. A full set of shuriken clipped his hair as it whizzed by overhead.

Almost instinctively, he twisted in mid-leap while throwing three of his own shuriken with his uninjured arm at the enemy shinobi, managing to form a chain of handseals in the same movement despite the pain in his arm.

_Ram, Rat, Bird, Boar, Tiger!_

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Three multiplied into fifty as the dangerous metallic mass continued to fly at the two opposing ninja. When the two nukenin saw the sharp gleaming knives speeding at them, they froze in surprise. "N-nani–!" The metal impacted solidly.

_Clink! Clank! Thunk!_

The shadow shuriken disappeared in poofs of smoke, obscuring the view briefly. Kuro took this time to slip away from the blindsided shinobi. The young ninja trainee sprinted, still barely hearing the muffled voices and cursing of his chasers.

_Whew, that was close! My chakra control still needs some work though. That jutsu took a good chunk of energy out of me even with my larger-than-normal chakra reserves._

_The technique served its purpose though, so it should hold them for a while._

The span of 1.5 minutes had passed since the first attack by the Iwa nukenin.

-

Itachi softly followed the Iwa nukenin from the shelter of the trees. His face was expressionless behind his mask, his hidden features never revealing even a hint of his inner thoughts.

_They underestimated him, and so did I. This is disconcerting. From what the boy said, it seems as if he wants to become a Konoha shinobi. This brings up questions. Where did he come from? What was his home village? What jutsu caused that chakra spike? Like Kakashi, I believe he means no harm to the village, but I feel that he has potential within him that could rival or possibly outweigh the strength of even the son of the Konoha no Shiroi Kiba himself, seeing as he knew and correctly executed the Shuriken Kage Bunshin technique. I must investigate further._

_If I must, I will intervene to save his life. However, I will avoid revealing myself for now. It is not out of his hands yet._

His right hand strayed to the razor sharp steel ninjato strapped on his back while his left hand formed a half-seal. Beside him in the branches as he leaped to another tree, a mizu bunshin formed out of the puddles on the ground and the raindrops on the tree leaves. The young veteran shinobi sent his copy out with a wave of his hand. The masked water clone nodded and took off on a slightly different trajectory from his creator.

_After this is over, I will report back to Konoha. It won't take long. After all, no matter how much I loathe the title, I _am _the Uchiha prodigy._ He thought, greatly annoyed. For a second, a look of indecision crossed over the young ninja's face. _If the council agrees to the mission, and I know that they most probably will…_

_When it is done, I will have to leave my home forever._

…_but what wouldn't I do for my village?_

The weasel-masked ninja shook his head at the question, the slight emotion leaving his shadowed face as he withdrew further into his subordinate-named "ANBU mode".

He already knew the answer.

-

For a length of time… ten, twenty, thirty minutes… was it an hour? Kuro couldn't tell – he kept running. When tree branches tore at his face and injured arm, he just turned intangible. He never slowed his tireless pace.

The only things that the shrunken teen's mind was aware of were the trees immediately surrounding him as he hurtled at an insane pace through the leaves, the nearly noiseless sound of his sandals against the rough bark of multiple ancient trees, the throbbing pain in his left arm and shoulder, and his heavy breathing.

Kuro closed his brain from any negative thoughts, concentrating only on the soft, steady rhythm of tree-jumping that could only be heard by a ninja. Three miles… four miles… five… coming ever closer to his destination.

The clock ticked as he raced against time, unprecedented foes, and his own body.

He went onward.

-

**3:00-3:45 Sun-time**

The traveling had been mostly easy despite the young ninja trainee's injuries. The evidence could be seen considering the fact that he had run a little over three-fourths of the distance along the track to Konoha (fifty-six miles).

From this distance, Kuro figured that he was safe for the moment. He quickly took advantage of the time.

He swiftly dropped from the trees to a spot partially hidden by bushes, fumbling with his knapsack to retrieve his first aid kit.

Quickly getting down to business, he tore his jacket off and went into medical evaluation mode.

_I got hit by two kunai. The first one sliced my lower arm, just missing my… brachial artery. Yeah, I still remember. 'S not affecting my brain yet. It's pretty shallow, so it could heal in a week at most. _

_If the kunai had hit just about _that_ much lower, especially in this rather _short _five-year-old_ _body that's _supposed_ to be mine, I might've die– never mind. Bad thoughts, don't need to go there._

His brow furrowed almost cutely as he turned to the _real_ problem.

_The other one sliced my upper shoulder. It's _moderately_ life threatening in __ninja__ terms, AKA __excruciating wound__ in civilian terms. Unfortunately, I don't carry tourniquets or blood pills with me, so the most I can do is to bandage myself tightly and put pressure on it._

_Heh, I don't like to rely on Gobi to help me considering that he already saved my life more than once, but I really __hate__ civilian hospitals. I'll just have to deal with it though._

The short boy winced as he cautiously brushed the shallower cut.

_The_ _ninja__ equivalent of basic first aid equals _an instant trip to the ER_ in __civilian__ terms._ He sighed.

"You're right, Rin," Kuro muttered, _"Everything_ about a ninja is extreme. Extreme training, extreme missions, extreme injuries… even extreme _cat_ _retrieval. _After this is over, I'm gonna force myself to locate, learn, and master Shosen no Jutsu no matter what I have to go through."

He carefully probed the edges of the larger of the two injuries. Noting the sickly color of his skin in its general area, he guessed that the kunai had been poisoned.

_The world hates me, doesn't it? I don't know the advanced technique for drawing poison yet, not that it would help since I probably don't have the chakra control to do it._

_The side effects of this type seem to be slight confusion and sluggishness, possibly due to a… muscle relaxant, but that could be my blood loss talking._

_If not for Gobi, I would've been unconscious or dead already. That's yet _another_ thing I need to thank the ancient furball for._

He ran his evaluations through his mind (in order no less and word-for-word), fondly thinking of his sister.

_Man, Jazz, I remember telling you that we were as different as the sun and rain, but I mean, wow. "Never say never 'cause you'll end up doing it someday," right? Your "evaluation and assessment" mode probably rubbed off on me. You were _definitely _too smart for your own good, probably even smart enough to… figure out my secret…_

_Now that I think about it, you had the mental capacity of a Nara. You would've made an awesome strategist._

The short teenager drifted off into thought, eyes glazing slightly. Suddenly, he snapped back into the real world.

_I must be either poison-influenced or _crazy_ to do something like that. Spacing out is _not _something you want to do when two hostile nukenin are chasing after you when you're literally running on borrowed time._

Turning back to his task, he continued to feel out his injuries. After a moment of decision, he turned his hand intangible and felt through his wounds from the inside. Assessing it critically, he passed his judgment.

Bright crimson liquid dripped from between his already blood-encrusted fingers as he loosened his grip on the containing pressure point. Sweat dripped from his forehead and hair down the lines of his cheekbones. He carefully wiped the saltwater out of his eyes before it could blur or blind his sight.

Rummaging through the kit, the short dimension-traveler pulled out a dark brown bottle.

ANTISEPTIC

O.o

-lll-

Kuro stared at it and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why does it have a skull mark on the front again?" he muttered to himself. Dismissing the thought, he fished a blank scroll from his supplies and shoved it into his mouth, biting down as hard as he could.

(Sigh) _Man, my leg still hurts when I remember the _one_ time Sam did this to me. I'd better be doing this right, _Samantha Manson_. If I'm not, I'm blaming you. And yes, I know you hate being called that just like I know you're gonna kill me for calling you that next time I see you. I'll probably be dead by then, but will it _really_ matter to you?_

He shuddered for a different reason than the upcoming pain as he imagined Sam shaking her fist at him from across the dimensions.

The boy unscrewed the bottle and tipped it over his wounds before he could convince himself not to go through with it. What could go wrong?

Apparently, the worst of things could happen.

The bottle slipped.

His head flew up and hit a tree branch as his muffled scream startled nearby birds to flight.

_Aarghh! Danny, you… you baka! And you call yourself a medic-nin in training?_ _An _academy student_ can do better than… that!_

-

A few precious minutes after the pain caused by (accidentally, mind you) using almost the whole bottle of antiseptic subsided, Kuro reexamined the larger of the two slashes.

Several black drops of liquid dripped from his antiseptic-drenched wounds onto unmarked skin.

_That confirms it. I've been poisoned. And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. The only thing I can do now is to bandage up and make it to Konoha with at least enough energy to get to the hospital._

_Way to think positively, Danny._ (Sigh) _Man, this is so troublesome._

The ninja trainee paused. After a minute, he slapped his forehead.

…_Great. I'm starting to sound like a Nara._

The young boy pulled a roll of white bandages from his first-aid kit and expertly wrapped the bandages tightly around his shoulder and arm in a sling, watching in morbid fascination as the white material reddened slowly but steadily. After a minute or two, he put the loose end of the bandage between his front teeth and comically tried to saw it off from the rest of the roll. Finally, a light bulb turned on in his head. He sweatdropped at himself and finally took out a kunai.

"If I get out of this alive, I'll definitely go into the combat medic-nin profession, not to mention that I'll… learn how to cut without a knife," he resolved. "I've still got about… ten years to perfect the jutsu that I learn, after all."

_Not to mention that my pain tolerance _has _to go up._

-

The Iwa nukenin were quickly recuperating from Kuro's shuriken kage bunshin attack-cum-distraction. Coughing, Makaze glared at his teammate. "That little (_cough_)_ gaki_ was a (_cough) _a ninja! There's no way a _(cough)_ civilian or ninja academy student knows _(cough)_ Shuriken Kage Bunshin! If he survives my poison, he (_cough) _might – no, he _will_ inform Konoha about us (_cough)._ Find his trail already!"

Tanku nodded at him mock-understandingly with a condescendingly smug look on his face, having avoided most of the shuriken save the one that cut his cheek. Looking mock-disdainfully at the solid shuriken that solidly pinned his partner's right sleeve and left leg to a tree, he sighed in mock-exasperation. "Fine, you suck at tracking anyhow. Man, it seems like I have to do _everything_ on this team for it to be done right."

As Tanku turned his back (mockingly!), his teammate scowled at his back and pulled the throwing stars from his sleeve and pant leg, wincing at the slices in his dominant throwing arm and left calf muscles. Though the cuts weren't deep, he wouldn't be moving very comfortably for a while.

He tore his arm from his sleeve in annoyance when the last shuriken didn't give way. He left the cloth where it stuck and quickly started on his companion's path, swearing to make the gaki pay for his injuries.

The shorter missing-nin flickered into the forest at a leisurely chūnin-level speed, his tracking-illiterate comrade following close behind. As he ran, he occasionally sifted the forest loam with his hands and tapped one or two trees, noting every crushed fern, smashed clump of moss, or disturbed tree bark.

After several tense minutes of concentrated silence, he motioned to the ground in front of his taller friend.

The moss-carpeted forest floor was stained red and reddish-brown in alternating places, forming a narrow but visible trail. Makaze slapped his friend on the back in both annoyance and relief. He would never admit to either himself or his teammate that Tanku truly was a ninjutsu-_tracking_ specialist.

"This is it! Now, let's end this and _(cough) _go back to Iwa!"

Tanku smirked. "It all comes with having sharp eyes and a strong affinity for the earth element. It's nothing too extreme. To bad it isn't something you can change, eh, Makaze?"

Makaze ignored the barb. "Let's go!"

The ninjutsu and tracking specialist snorted. "Yeah, let's start the curtain call and take a bow, shall we?"

They took to the trees.

-

Completely silent, Itachi was directly above the nukenin (who were oblivious to anyone following them), marking each of their movements and conversations in his head. He found nothing of importance in what they said, so for his own amusement, he noted their status and skill levels as he remembered being printed in the updated bingo book and compared them to his own personal evaluations.

**Bingo Book (Konoha)**

Daishi Makaze (p. 104)

Nukenin: formerly of Iwagakure no Sato

Rank: C-class, low-chūnin

Strengths: slow-working but potent poisons and minor offensive Doton jutsu combined with ranged weapons

Weaknesses: He is extremely easy to anger. He thinks irrationally when angered, greatly lowering his chances of defeating an opponent.

Combat Facts: He usually initiates combat by attacking from afar with poisoned kunai and shuriken, mainly attacking with taijutsu at close range. He may be accompanied by his former teammate, Kyūdo Tanku (p. 105).

Location(s): He was last seen within the borders of Hi no Kuni near Tanzaku Gai.

He is wanted for assassinating his other former teammate and jōnin sensei with assistance from Kyūdo Tanku, the attempted assassination of the son of the Ame Daimyō, and the successful assassination of the Kusa Daimyō's brother.

The price for his retrieval, dead or alive, is 20,000 ryo in Iwa, Kusa, and Ame.

Kyūdo Tanku (p. 105)

Nukenin: formerly of Iwagakure no Sato

Rank: C-class, low-chūnin

Strengths: tracking and defensive and offensive doton jutsu

Weaknesses: He is overconfident, often overestimating himself and underestimating his opponents.

Combat Facts: He frequently uses Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu to initiate his attacks. He normally avoids a fight, usually preferring to stay hidden. He may be accompanied by his former teammate, Daishi Makaze (p. 104).

Location(s): He was last seen within the borders of Hi no Kuni near Tanzaku Gai.

He is wanted for assisting Daishi Makaze in the assassination of his former teammate and jōnin sensei, the attempted assassination of the son of the Ame Daimyō, and the successful assassination of the Kusa Daimyō's brother.

The price for his retrieval, dead or alive, is 15,000 ryo in Iwa, Kusa, and Ame.

**-**

Itachi smirked slightly behind his mask. His water clone – whose strength was equivalent to one-tenth of his own – would be more than enough to take out those two weaklings. _Small fries._ They were no immediate danger to Konoha. Since they were unimportant and irrelevant to his position, he didn't even need to interrogate them. No, he could just hand them over to the ANBU interrogation unit for the "fresh meat" of the group to practice on. He wouldn't mind the extra thousand ryo or two for his own personal International (Itachi) Pocky of Konoha fund (IPK), either.

Thankfully, the ANBU captain nominee had other orders than to study worthless thugs. His primary priority was more exciting, anyway. His orders were clear. He had a smaller, more interesting person to follow.

The young shinobi veteran breezed off further beyond the missing-ninja to catch up to his young subject while his water clone stayed the track.

-

**3:45-4:30 Sun-time**

Approximately five miles to Konoha.

The short ninja trainee had stopped again to conserve energy. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he panted from his strenuous race against time, energy, and survival. He took a long drink from his canteen, pouring a small amount of what still remained in it on back of his neck.

The sun was low on the horizon, tinting the sky slightly with a vast canvas of blue, light pink, and golden orange. Though at any other time he would admire the view, the sunset's beauty was lost on Kuro.

He was really feeling the strain of running almost nonstop from enemies that could very well be way over his own skill level while being slowly but surely drained by his use of chakra to travel and the injuries that he had sustained.

_I'll need to slow down if I even hope to reach Konoha and survive. Upside, I'll gain a bit of energy and _possibly_ stand a small chance of getting through alive. Downside, those guys will definitely catch up._

_Should I rest up and let them find me sooner or go slow, waste energy, and have them find me anyway? Confrontation is pretty much gonna happen either way._

_If I have to, I WILL use my abilities to their full extent. I'm NOT letting anyone get in my way to Konoha, especially when both Clockwork and Kieruha are counting on me. I've got more than one legacy to continue._

The blue-eyed, black-haired boy thought his options over carefully. Finally, he came to a decision.

He couldn't deny the strange new feeling of growing excitement that rippled through his small body. He rubbed his hands together, trembling slightly with anticipation and a bit of nervousness.

_Is this what Obito and Rin feel when they_'_re matched against unknown enemies?_ _I never really felt like this when fighting ghosts in Amity, maybe when fighting Skulker, but otherwise… _He thought passively.

A look of determination crossed his face for a brief moment. _Well, a challenge _is_ something that I haven't come by without using Gobi's shared powers with my life on the line._

He grinned slightly as the beginnings of a plan formed in his mind.

"Let's do this!"

-

The two nukenin shifted stealthily from tree to tree. After that long tracking session and an even longer chase, they had finally caught up with the little ninja gaki.

At this time, Tanku was still snickering quietly over his taller friend's former plight. Makaze gritted his teeth slightly at that, trying to ignore his accomplice's taunts about his incompetence, having been bested by one of his own specialties.

That gaki had made a fool of him once, but no more! He had underestimated him, but now he would crush him mercilessly. He ordered Tanku to be silent, moving his hands in sign language.

_Tunnel… under… ground… I… will… do… rest_

Tanku nodded in understanding and signed back.

_Capture… or… kill?_

The taller nukenin grinned unpleasantly. He didn't even need to sign to get his point across.

-

The young boy stood in a deceptively relaxed stance, kunai hidden skillfully in his sleeves. His closed eyes could fool any normal person into thinking that his guard was down when in reality all of his senses were on overdrive. It was near mandatory that he sensed the nukenin even a split second before they struck. His plan almost completely depended on it.

Cold calculation lay beneath icy blue orbs as he estimated his limits and chances._ I'll wait for them to make the first move. I don't know most of their abilities, but they don't know mine either. In my current condition, I think I can hold out in a fight for at least seven minutes. I'll just have to make them count, ne?_

_In terms of chances, I have a less than likely chance to get out of this, but situations _always_ turn out differently for me than they could._

He sighed. Hopefully things would turn out for the better.

_Anyway, the field is set. No turning back now…_

Kuro's chakra senses went off. His muscles tensed as a kunai slipped from his sleeve into his right hand. He fell into a basic "ready" stance, his oceanic blue eyes scanning the forest depths and shifting constantly at every minute sound, be it caused by a living creature or by a harmlessly rustling leaf.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose. He recoiled. _Below!_

He leaped upwards to avoid an earth-smeared hand as it shot from the ground, attempting to latch onto him to pull him beneath the surface.

The high-pitched ring of steel in the air forced Kuro on the defensive. He jerked around in midair to shield his injured arm, deflecting several undoubtedly poisoned kunai and shuriken with his own kunai. Landing, he rolled out of the way as a dozen throwing stars thumped into the place where he previously stood.

Several shuriken appeared in his hand, speeding through the air in the next second to intercept a second volley of sharp missiles. The young teen bent over backwards to avoid the remaining unblocked knives, impulsively catching the last kunai to compensate for the one he'd used previously.

_I gotta pinpoint at least one of their positions before my time's up!_ He thought, ducking a random senbon needle that had been sent with deadly accuracy at his head.

-

Makaze narrowed his eyes from the shadows of the undergrowth as the ninja gaki avoided his weapons. Scowling, he stomped on the ground firmly three times.

-

Tanku smirked from across the clearing despite his unsuccessfulness in catching Kuro. Carefully forming a new chain of handseals at his teammate's signal, he promptly slammed both palms into the ground.

_Doton: Doryūsō!_

-

Kuro caught a slight sound distortion behind him. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

Suddenly, the ground shook. He barely got out of the way as an earth spike broke the ground underneath him.

"Earth spikes! Isn't that overkill?!" He hissed under his breath, quickly making a kawarimi with a nearby log. Said log was splintered by another projecting stalagmite. He tenaciously gripped the side of another earth spear, plastering himself to its side to narrowly evade a following spike and its accompanying volley of kunai.

He gritted his teeth at another close call, continually avoiding both the earth beneath his feet and the relentless poisoned throwing knives. Flipping forwards, he landed in a side-roll away from a particularly pointy earth pillar. Wherever he moved, an earth spike sprouted a split second later.

Kuro began to relax slightly when he figured out the ninjutsu specialist's rhythm, now able to completely dodge the sheering stone spikes with very little difficulty. The hard part was for him to continue evading both the earth spears and the throwing knives.

Icy blue eyes narrowed in concentration.

_Dodge, jump, twist. Kawarimi, now! Push off, roll, handspring. Dodge, dodge, kawarimi, out!_

His acrobatics got him out of trouble, but his energy was quickly running out. He still needed to find his opponents.

_I love a game of hide and seek as much as the next guy, but not when it's timed! I can't wait until they run out of chakra _and_ kunai. Seriously._

-

Makaze released more kunai at the slight form that kept dodging, ducking, and weaving through the moving earth pillars.

How did that gaki keep escaping from him? He scowled, making his own handseals. Two identical forms rose from the earth, forming Tsuchi Bunshin. They nodded to their creator and took up positions around the clearing, already taking up a steady weapon-throwing rhythm.

The nukenin slowly shifted his foot in a circle, knowing his friend would pick up the hint. After all, his pride could not let him lose this fight.

-

"Woah!" The spikes were no longer just spiking in Kuro's path. Now, they shot up in a circular motion toward him. As the pattern spiraled in his direction, it forced him to doge further into the center of the circle. The quantity of kunai speedily increased almost in sync with the change of speed.

As he dodged yet _another_ earth projectile, more throwing knives whizzed toward him directly in his path.

It was a split-second reaction. He turned intangible.

His ears caught a sharply-drawn breath in the same general area as the "sound distortion" as the knives passed harmlessly through his body. The shrunken teen smirked inwardly, head cocked slightly to the side.

Tanku had begun his attack by trying to capture Kuro with Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu, forcing the boy to either jump, dodge, or get caught. While in the air, the ninja trainee had essentially no way to dodge Makaze's kunai salvos. However, he was able to block most of the knives and twist out of the way of the others.

When the ninjutsu user initiated his earth spike technique, Doton: Doryūsō,he was not using it randomly; he was slowly herding Kuro into a spot where he would not be able to defend from his friend's ranged attacks. After Makaze signaled him to speed his technique up, he started a spiraling pattern to trap their prey.

In the center of the closing circle, the ninja trainee would not have been able to escape unharmed in any way. He would either be impaled by the earth spikes or the poisoned kunai.

That is, if only it wasn't Kuro they were attacking.

Said teenager grinned, walking right through two of the rock pillars as they rose beneath him and ignoring the kunai that passed through his body.

_I'm surrounded, but I know that I'm up against only two people. At least one of them knows how to make a solid bunshin. I'll go on a hunch and say that the weapon guy makes the clones and attacks from a distance while the other guy picks up a signal from him to synchronize his ninjutsu attacks._

Kuro winced as his throbbing wounds sent him a painful reminder of why he was fighting and let go of his intangibility. _Yeah, I need to end this quickly. Less intangibility and more dodging, I know, I know. Right! Commence plan A of Obito's ninja fight handbook!_

He coiled himself up for a chakra-enhanced leap and jumped to the height of the tallest earth spike, narrowly dodging a second that thrust up behind him. Kuro balanced on the tip, defiance showing clearly in his stance as he narrowed his eyes at a certain patch of ferns and bushes. It remained immobile. He grinned inwardly.

Plastering a fake smug smile on his face, the young ninja trainee prepared to use Obito's and his favorite and most-used tactic – enrage the enemies. It had been a long-standing and effective trait and ability of his, and he wasn't about to let it get rusty. He sucked in a deep breath.

"Oi! I never thought that Iwa shinobi were so weak that they would hide from a_ ninja_ _trainee!_ Are you really _that_ afraid that I'll beat you in close-range?" he said, exaggerating his words purposefully.

He waited for a second, straining his ears for the slightest answering noise. Apparently, the fish weren't quite hungry at the time. He recast the line.

"Ano, are you going to run back home to your mommies and tell them that a five-year-old defeated you?" the boy half-shouted cheekily. _Come on, take the bait!_

His ears caught a low growl behind the fern patch as yet another set of kunai was launched at his head from the opposite side of the clearing. He tilted his head slightly to dodge it, knowing that at least one of his opponents was at the breaking point. He smirked. _Just a little more…_

"You're gonna run out of kunai and chakra soon. I'll have nothing to worry about then. You haven't landed a single hit on me. I'll just be on my merry way, ne?" _Technically he _did _hit me, but he doesn't need to remember that._

Kuro carefully used the still-spiking stone spear tips as steps and made as if to stroll away upon sliding down the shortest spearpoint. One loud stomp was his answer. Almost immediately, Kuro felt a shockwave ripple through the ground. His eyes widened, only to relax just as quickly when he caught a definite glimpse of a blown-clothed figure in the ferns.

_Mission accomplished! I did my job, so it's all up to you boss!_

As the quakes rose sharply in frequency, he waved innocently at the fern patch with a huge grin on his face. He formed the peace sign with one hand and a half-ram seal with the other just as an upheaval of earth rose ominously above him, smashing the nearby rock spikes effortlessly.

It dropped like a stone.

But before the literal wave of dirt and rock could even touch him, Kuro's Kage Bunshin had already dispelled.

-

Several feet away from the clearing, hidden in a hollow tree trunk, Kuro's eyes snapped open. He grinned.

_It's my turn now._

-

Makaze couldn't believe his eyes. A ninja _trainee_ had bested him with a mere _Kage Bunshin_ when it shouldn't have been possible for him to even _make_ one! Not even a normal _genin_ would be capable of accomplishing such a feat, let alone a wet-behind-the-ears _academy student_! His strange "kekkei genkai" didn't help either.

How far had he and his teammate fallen to be beaten by that _gaki?!_

Said gaki was probably running away within a ten miles radius by now.

He gritted his teeth. Stomping on the ground once more, Makaze signaled Tanku to end his earthquake technique. After a moment, the earth rumbled back to a state of repose, leaving a scene of destruction and shattered former bedrock in its wake.

Jumping to the tip of one of the still-standing rock spikes (most of which had been destroyed by the shockwaves), he scanned the forest for any signs of his prey. The ground had been torn up by massive upheavals of earth. The clearing was completely destroyed, but the adjacent trees had somehow remained intact. His earth clones had been destroyed in the earthquake, leaving him cursing his waste of chakra.

There was no trace of the ninja trainee to be seen. Scowling, he slid down the side of the pillar.

"Tanku, we've lost him. Let's get out of Hi no Kuni before an ANBU patrol finds us."

After a sizeable pause, Tanku stumbled from the trees, panting heavily. "Fine… but I need to rest. That jutsu took a lot out of me!"

Makaze grumbled at that and threw him a soldier pill. "That should sustain you long enough. Let's get moving."

The shorter nukenin smirked as his partner turned his back. With a flick of his wrist, a kunai slid into his hand.

Sharp steel cut a nearly invisible wire.

Makaze pivoted sharply as kunai and shuriken began to rain from the trees. Caught off guard, several knives embedded themselves in his right leg and shoulder. Dodging the end of the salvo, he whirled on his former teammate in fury.

He swiped his kunai at the man's face, only to have the weapon pass harmlessly through him. The nukenin's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You! What did you do to Tanku?!"

Kuro released the henge and took a new stance. His energy had been greatly increased by his rest in the tree trunk, and as a result, he felt _way_ more confident than his shadow clone had been.

Before the nukenin arrived, the smart dimension-traveler had used the time to completely secure his bandages and prepare the clearing, giving him a huge advantage over his opponents.

Since both ninja had been Iwa shinobi, Kuro correctly predicted their use of earth ninjutsu. He surrounded the whole clearing with traps, none of which would be activated in the presence of an earth technique. With his near-photographic memory, he had no problem remembering exactly where each trap was and how to activate them.

Knowing that he would probably not survive in an all-out fight, Kuro made a single shadow clone as a decoy to measure his enemies' strengths, pinpoint their positions, frustrate them, and tire them out as much as possible. He had given his clone full permission to use all of his abilities as long as his mission was completed.

The kage bunshin was successful. Through his clone's knowledge, Kuro quickly found Tanku hiding in the fern patch across from Makaze. The stone ninja was already exhausted from his last two jutsu, so the ninja trainee had very little trouble knocking him out and immobilizing him. He lured the remaining rock ninja into a false sense of security by using Henge no Jutsu to transform into his incapacitated teammate, promptly activating his first trap.

The sky-eyed boy was confident enough. He was sure he had an even chance of winning. Despite the wounds he sustained, he was nearly at top strength. He was dizzy, his head and arm were throbbing, but he was going to get through this.

No matter what!

Looking the remaining stone ninja in the eye, Kuro's determined expression didn't change. "Brains beat brawn, so they say. You probably don't have enough of them if you can't figure it out, nukenin-san."

He quickly sidestepped as Makaze thrust a kunai at him viciously. His next angry slash cut deep into the tree behind the dimension traveler, inches from his cheek. Jumping upwards, Kuro swiped his knife at a nearby branch, severing it cleanly. A second hail of sharpened metal peppered the landscape.

Now more prepared, Makaze smirked darkly while dodging and blocking every projectile using his more mobile side. "You will pay for killing my teammate, gaki. There won't be enough of you left to feed an ant when I'm done with you."

Flipping one-handed backwards to the center of the clearing, Kuro grunted, "Iie, who said anything about killing him? He's alive, but he won't be helping you anytime soon, Kogechairo!"

The nukenin roared and charged at his prey, not thinking of the consequences that could result from it. Kuro sighed. _He forgot one of the most important rules of shinobi life: he let his emotions get the better of him. All the better for me, I guess._

Makaze was mad. Scratch that, he was _furious_. He could no longer think straight. That _gaki_ had avoided every jutsu and weapon thrown at him. While he himself sported several kunai-induced wounds, the brat had almost no mark on him!

The nukenin's hands came together in a series of handseals. _Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu!_

"Woah!" Kuro jumped over a kick from one of three Makazes, quickly bending backwards underneath a punch from a second one.

A hit aimed for Kuro's injured arm hit the boy square in the side as he shifted away from it. He gasped as the breath was knocked out of him, sliding back several feet from the force behind the rock clone's blow. _That's definitely not the real one._

Gritting his teeth, he dodged a snap kick, jumped back, and set his hands in a cross-seal. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_

Two Kuros poofed into existence and took identical stances to their creator. _"Down,"_ Kuro whispered.

They sank into the ground.

Makaze's eyes widened in shock. A split second later, his rock clones were pulled into the ground, already dispersing into the element they were made of. He had no time to dodge when Kuro reappeared in front of him. An uppercut hit him straight in the face. As his head snapped back, two spinning kicks smashed into his chest, followed by a chakra-enhanced punch to the gut.

He slid backwards for a few feet, head banging painfully on a rather stout tree.

Kuro landed a few feet away, panting noticeably. Makaze lifted himself shakily with his good hand, shooting a death glare at his young opponent from underneath a soon-to-be goose-egg bump. If looks could kill, Kuro would've been floured, deep-fried, and turned into tempura.

The boy winced when pain shot up his arm, throbbing like a sore thumb.

_Okay, less taijutsu. I get it. If I keep moving like this, the poison will get to me before the ninja does. Ninjutsu is only in until my chakra runs out. That doesn't leave me with very many options. _

_Looks like I'll have to play my last free card._

The Iwa nukenin stood, swaying slightly. With the last bits of rational thought gone from his mind and no thought to his personal well-being, he began a staggering run toward his prey, kunai held between his fingers in each hand like claws.

Kuro danced lightly backwards across the broken ground of the clearing to avoid his enemy's stabs, swipes, and slashes, occasionally blocking a strike that came too close. He could pretty much see his opponent's frenzied lunges coming from a mile away.

_Even though he's predictable, it doesn't make him any less dangerous,_ Kuro reminded himself, simultaneously bending under a bladed swipe at his throat. Whirling around quickly underneath an open-palmed strike, he ducked underneath Makaze's now-poor defense. _But that doesn't mean that I can't win._

Index and middle finger extended and saturated with chakra, Kuro deftly poked several pressure points on the nukenin's arms and swiftly jumped back before the nukenin could hit him.

Makaze grunted, feeling sharp pains shooting through his arms. The man's hands fell slack to his sides, letting his kunai fall through paralyzed fingers. After a moment, his state finally registered in his walnut-shaped brain. His finger merely twitched in response to his attempts to move.

Breathing hard in desperation, anger, and – dare he think it – slight fear, the former Iwa-nin threw himself bodily at Kuro. The boy merely stumbled to the side out of harm's way. "Y-you, you shrimpy gaki! What did you do to me?!"

Kuro leaned against one of the stone pillars to support himself as the rush of the fight began wearing off and his chakra usage registered. "I-I did… what I'd been planning to… do since you first… got distracted… From the time y-you gave in to my… my clone's taunts, I've… been completely in… control!" he panted.

Straightening slightly, a kunai appeared in his hand. "It's time to… wrap things up now!" the teen's wrist snapped forward.

_Tang!_

The sound of a wire snapping echoed in the quiet clearing.

Kuro ducked, barely avoiding a length of steel ninja wire as it wrapped itself around his opponent. Weighted down by shuriken at the ends, the throwing stars embedded themselves in flesh, completely immobilizing the former Iwa-nin. The man fell, unbalanced by the unexpected trap.

The earth crumbled beneath the fallen missing-nin's weight, having been weakened by both Tanku's Doton ninjutsu and secret digging by Kuro's shadow clones. The nukenin tumbled into the pit.

There was a sickening crack as he involuntarily kissed terra firma at the bottom.

After waiting for a moment to see if the man would climb back to the surface, Kuro stumbled on unsteady feet toward the hole of his creation. Peering downward, he winced. The bruised and dust-covered nukenin would _not_ be moving for a while. "Sorry about… that," he said, "but I want to… live today, if you know what… I'm saying, yeah." _Half-live at least._

"If you… you're still wondering how I… won, it's pretty obvious. You… you made several _huge_ mistakes in fighting me… You underestimated my senses… you didn't even _try_ to calculate my… abilities, you were too obvious in your attacks, and… you let your emotions control… your actions. You pretty much… gave yourself away," Kuro panted with disgust evident in his tone.

"Don't… don't get me wrong… if I hadn't had that strategy, you would've… won." The edges of his vision began to darken as the adrenaline wore off completely. "But it doesn't… matter anymore… does it?"

Losing his battle with the void of unconsciousness, Kuro's stance began to falter. But before he could hit the ground, a pair of hands steadied him and lowered him down on his back.

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the porcelain mask of the ANBU Weasel.

-

Itachi gazed through his mask at the immobilized nukenin who had foolishly fallen into the boy's trap. They were both a disgrace to all ninja, unworthy of the title chūnin.

His hand slowly dropped away from its position on the hilt of his ninjato. These common nukenin didn't deserve the honor of even _glimpsing_ his blade any more than they deserved to be taken to Konoha alive.

A kunai flashed. Blood spattered the young ninja's face, staining his skin and uniform crimson. His expression remained emotionless.

Wiping his knife on the nukenins' clothes, Itachi efficiently and methodically sealed their bodies into the same scroll that the former Iwa-nin had used for the people they had murdered in their travels.

Kneeling down next to the now-unconscious Kuro, the Weasel-masked ANBU performed a quick medical examination on him. After deeming his subject secure, the ninja carefully lifted the young boy onto his back. The interestingly capable ninja trainee groaned, turning slightly. The boy was lighter than the Uchiha prodigy expected him to be, even for his small size. For a second the teenage ANBU veteran was reminded of his little brother, Sasuke, who was doubtlessly pestering his mother to find out when he would return from his mission. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the thought.

He set off for Konoha.

_I'm coming home, ot__ōto__. Two months… six months, whatever time it may be… it is in the council's and the Hokage's hands now._

-

-

-

Sorry about the wait. I had some trouble with this chapter, it being my first-ever attempt at a fight scene. Please tell me what you think! On another note, don't expect all of my future chapters to be as big. This is most probably gonna be a one-time thing. It is nineteen pages without author's notes and a little over twenty with. How's that for a long chapter?

I got no small amount of inspiration from The Unexpected, a Naruto fanfic by DSecret, Team 8, a Naruto fanfic by S'TarKan, What the Future Holds, a Naruto fanfic by Tenstar12, The Impossible Murder, a Case Closed-Danny Phantom crossover fanfic by Billie Jukes, and last but not least, the detective manga _Detective Conan_ by Aoyama Gōshō. Reading them over and over helped my writer's block. Check them out!

Translations

Nukenin – ninja who has defected from their village

Tokubetsu – special/exceptional

Kusagakure – Village Hidden in the Grass

Amegakure – Village Hidden in the Rain

Hitai-ate – forehead-protector/headband

Gaki – brat

Ojisan – grandfather/old man

Konoha no Shiroi Kiba – Hatake Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo, White Fang of Konoha

Doton – earth release ninjutsu

Bingo Book – frequently updated hit list with information used by ninja to identify/capture/eliminate missing-nin

Kogechairo – dark brown (Kuro was pretty much calling Makaze "brownie")

Ano – no concrete meaning, but it's used as a way to emphasize your words or catch someone's attention

Iie – no (answer in the negative)

Jutsu List

**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique**

The user throws their shuriken, forming handseals as the knives fly at their target. Completely solid shuriken shadow clones form, greatly multiplying the original number. The number of shuriken clones created depends on how much chakra and control is used in the jutsu.

**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu – Water Clone Technique**

After forming the appropriate handseals, a clone of the user forms from water. The user must have a source of water nearby for this jutsu to be complete. The clone's strength is equivalent to one-tenth of the user's.

**Sh****ō****sen no Jutsu – Mystical Palm Technique**

The user's hands take on a blue-green aura as their chakra forms to heal. The user must have extreme chakra control to successfully use this jutsu. This technique can be used to scan people's wounds, heal them, or, in a battle situation, may be sharpened into chakra scalpels that can sever muscle and tendon from the inside.

**Doton: ****Shinjū Zanshu ****no Jutsu – Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique**

The user tunnels underground, pinpoints their target through any means, and attempts to pull them underground up to their neck. It is very useful for capturing live targets.

**Doton: Doryūsō – Earth Release: Earth Spears**

The user slams their hands on the ground after forming the correct handseals. They are then able to manipulate the ground into spikes, either impaling or imprisoning the target. The jutsu can be maintained as long as the user has chakra.

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique**

After forming the appropriate handseals, a solid clone of the user puffs into existence. Their strength is equal to that of the original, but they are extremely easy to dispel. One hard hit makes it disperse. Once dispelled, all information that the clone has learned gets transferred to the user. The chakra usage of this technique is quite high. As a result, only those with jōnin-level or higher chakra reserves attempt it. Anyone less would die of chakra exhaustion.

**Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu – Earth Clone Technique**

After forming the appropriate handseals, a clone of the user forms from earth. The user must have a source of earth nearby for this jutsu to be complete.


	5. UP FOR ADOPTION

_A writer like me_

_Has regrets like fallen leaves_

_And this is but one_

-Regret: a Haiku by Shadow

* * *

As of today, 7/15/2012, Konoha no Taka is officially up for adoption. Whether one or multiple people want to do so, I don't care.

I'm sorry people, but I have completely lost inspiration for the Naruto fandom. My passion in that area is long gone. My writing style has also changed to the point that I can't even recognize this story as my own writing. If I ever, ever, _ever_ rewrite what I have of Konoha no Taka, it would look quite different from the original. And I HAVE been thinking about rewriting even if I don't intend on continuing it (for now at least). But no, as of now, I am full-on co-writing/betaing **Yan Takagawa**'s Danny Phantom/Detective Conan (aka Case Closed) crossover, Through the Fire, and will probably not write anything else until inspiration fails us.

So I've decided, if someone wants to adopt this story, I'll test the possible writer before I let them take full charge. **This only applies if you want to use the chapters I've already written. If you write something BASED ON Konoha no Taka, then you can disregard this entire message. **However, if you intend to write using any of my existing chapters in whole or in part, I would like if you would respect my wishes as the original writer and follow this message.

If you want to adopt KnT:R, then PM me. If you do not have a fanfic already written and posted on your page, write a sample chapter of what could happen after the last chapter I wrote and send it to me. Not a summary: an actual segment in the style of chapter. It doesn't have to be long. A couple hundred words of simple character interaction would be fine. As long as it has basic stuff done well, such as grammar, punctuation, character personalities (no OOC), there is absolutely no problem in my mind for you to adopt.

Reasons for this:

1) I've seen some adopted fics that made me stop reading because it didn't do the original justice. Even if I don't write this fic anymore, I still care for it and do not want to see it turned into something I never intended it to become (such as something riddled with steamy romance, cursing, sex, etc., which might be tempting to write).

2) I'd like to see what someone else would do with my idea (without me interfering), if their continuation is original, in-character, etc.

3) Writer's competence. Of course, this only really applies to those who don't have fics posted already. If I see that you can write well already, there's no need for me to make you prove yourself further.

4) Quality check. I need to see whether or not you can write on without a beta, or if you could use one (me or another writer).

You might think this to be harsh, but I've been a bit paranoid as of late. If you think this request is in any way unreasonable, please go ahead and PM me. If you still feel like full-on adopting this fanfic after this, then great. I do hope I didn't scare you away or anything.

In any case, good luck. As always, have fun writing!

Shadow


End file.
